The Football Federation of Kyrgyzstan (FFKR) described as baseless Monday a British lawmaker's claim it may have accepted a bribe from former FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al Khalifa. Natalya Ugrumova, the FFKR's spokeswoman categorically denied the allegations made by the Conservative MP Damian Collins in the British parliament last week.
"This was no more than a smear campaign designed to damage the candidacy of Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al Khalifa ahead of elections to the post of FIFA president," Ugrumova told AFP by telephone. "We consider these allegations baseless." Collins had said last Wednesday there were "strong grounds to suspect" Sheikh Salman had bribed the ex-Soviet country's federation ahead of a 2013 election for the Asian Football Confederation presidency that he won. Collins' petition to the parliament alleged Kyrgyzstan had been promised "significant financial support" through the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), headed by one of Sheikh Salman's allies in the run-up to the vote. "Three days before the vote, requests for support for 53 projects for Kyrgyzstan football to the tune of millions of pounds were discussed, although there seems to be no legitimate reason for the FFKR, part of FIFA, to be seeking funding from the OCA, part of the International Olympic Committee," Collins said.
The comments were made just two days before Friday's FIFA presidential election was won by the Swiss Gianni Infantino and were swiftly denied by Sheikh Salman, who finished second. Since his victory, Infantino has been forced to deny allegations he secured a vote from the United States' football federation by making promises about the 2026 World Cup. Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter is the subject of a Swiss criminal investigation and a six-year ban from football amid long-running allegations of endemic corruption at the sport's governing body.