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Former AFC chief calls for FIFA overhaul

ESPNsoccernet staff
June 23, 2011
Sepp Blatter was recently elected FIFA president for another four years © Getty Images
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Former Asian Football Confederation general secretary Peter Velappan has called on FIFA's entire executive committee to resign and stated his belief that "corruption has become part of the culture of football".

FIFA has recently been engulfed by accusations of corruption, with a secret report from the body's ethics committee revealing there is ''comprehensive, convincing and overwhelming'' evidence that Mohamed Bin Hammam attempted to bribe officials during his recent bid for the presidency.

The committee also found that Jack Warner, who has already tendered his resignation as FIFA vice-president, was an ''an accessory to corruption''.

Velappan, who served as AFC general secretary between 1978 and 2007, has now called on FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the other current members of the executive committee - including Bin Hammam - to leave their posts.

"I would suggest in the interests of FIFA and global football the entire FIFA ExCo must resign and open up a new chapter for football for the future," Velappan told AFP. "In the same way, for the future of Asian football, Hammam should resign."

On the AFC, he added: "We are at not only a crossroads but a crisis because now corruption has become part of the culture of football. Everybody now comes into football for the greed of money."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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