Bin Hammam fails to arrive for ethics hearing

Suspended Asian football chief Mohamed bin Hammam has failed to arrive for a hearing into allegations of bribery that could see him banned from the sport for life.

The 62-year-old Qatari, suspended from all football activity since May 29, is accused of attempting to buy the FIFA presidency by offering $40,000 cash gifts to Caribbean football officials in a bid to secure their votes.

He was due to face a FIFA Ethics Committee panel in Zurich on Friday -- but Al Jazeera's correspondent Lee Wellings reported that the Qatari has not arrived in Switzerland.

The corruption charges prompted Bin Hammam to withdraw from the presidential race, enabling his former ally Sepp Blatter to secure an unopposed fourth straight term in office at the beginning of June.

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