One of the candidates who entered FIFA’s presidential race appears on a secret list of recipients of funding from disgraced Qatari official Mohammed Bin Hammam according to paperwork obtained by the Mail on Sunday.
But the candidate in question, David Nakhid, a former Trinidad and Tobago international midfielder now forced out of the FIFA race due to a nominations error, has denied ever receiving cash from Bin Hammam.
The paperwork summarises money distributed from bank accounts controlled by Bin Hammam and includes payments to someone with the name David Nakhid. The transfers in question include a sum of $11,390 (£7,400) in April 2009 and a payment of $11,000 (£7,100) in June 2009.
Bin Hammam, a former president of the Asian Football Confederation and former vice-president of FIFA has been banned for football for life after a series of bribery and conflict of interest scandals.
Nakhid, 51, was widely perceived as a breath of fresh air in the FIFA presidential race. He played at club level in Switzerland, the USA and Sweden among other places, played for his country, and launched his presidential candidacy on a platform of reform, transparency and redistribution. Since 2006 he has run a football academy in Lebanon.
In an exclusive interview last week with the Mail on Sunday, Nakhid said his presidential campaign was being funded by ‘family and friends.’
When showed the paperwork purporting to show money transferred to him from Bin Hammam, he said: ‘I have no idea what that is … I’m ready to show my accounts to anyone. I’ve never even met Mohammed bin Hammam, ever, in my life. I can’t imagine what that [reference] is in 2009, or at any other time. I’ve never met the guy. Never.’
Nakhid’s nomination for the FIFA presidency was supported by five Caribbean FAs. The morning after the MoS interview, FIFA announced his candidacy had been deemed ineligible because one of the nominating FAs - the US Virgin Islands - had nominated more than one candidate, which is against the rules.
Therefore the USVI’s nomination for him was effectively struck off, meaning he did not have the five required nominations to continue.
Nakhid is appealing to FIFA’s electoral committee, saying they should have known about the multiple nominations, and given him a chance to rectify it, before striking him out.
Nakhid’s campaign manager, Josanne Leonard, said yesterday: ‘We’ve been advised to await word from legal counsel which should be early next week. As soon we’re apprised this information will be shared.’