Suspended Asian Football Confederation General Secretary Alex Soosay quit on Wednesday "rather than fight to clear his name amid allegations he tried to interfere with a corruption probe of the regional governing body," according to Patrick Johnston of REUTERS. Soosay was suspended last month by the AFC after Malaysian media reported an official at the 46-member confederation had been "asked by Soosay to 'tamper or hide' documents" during a '12 external audit. The AFC "did not say if the findings of the Soosay investigation would be made public." The body has also "resisted calls to make public" the '12 audit. The AFC said that Soosay's deputy Windsor John will "take over the role until a new general secretary is appointed" (REUTERS, 6/17). The AP reported Malaysian newspaper Malay Mail reported earlier this year that it had "obtained a video" from July '12 that showed AFC Financial Dir Bryan Kuan Wee Hong "telling a FIFA investigator that Soosay had asked for any incriminating evidence potentially connecting him to wrongdoing under disgraced" former AFC President Mohamed bin Hammam to be concealed (AP, 6/17). In N.Y., Robinson & Revill reported the AFC suspended Soosay in May after it said that it had "verified the authenticity of the video reported by the newspaper." Soosay, a former football player from Malaysia who became AFC's general secretary in '09, has "denied all wrongdoing" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/17).
HAYTOU DENIES: REUTERS' Toby Davis reported Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou has "denied selling his vote for the 2022 World Cup in an interview with French publication Jeune Afrique." Hayatou, who is also a FIFA VP, and CAF were "accused of accepting bribes" by former Qatar bid employee Phaedra Almajid. FBI investigators interviewed Almajid, who said that she was present when the Qatar bid organization paid $1.5M to three African members of FIFA's exec committee to secure their votes for Qatar. Almajid "made a sworn statement recanting her allegations" then "told the FBI that representatives of the Qatar bid had pressured her to do so." Hayatou: "I’ve never seen this woman in my life. She claims that we met Qatar people in a hotel in Angola. When? Where? She said so first, then she admitted she had lied. A year later, she repeats her accusations. It’s complete nonsense. We have asked her to show evidence. She has not" (REUTERS, 6/16).
