CAS OVERTURNS FIFA LIFE BAN ON BIN HAMMAN.

Eyes On The Ball: Javier Mascherano.

 In a press conference today, Javier Mascherano while responding to questions about his contract renewal has stated that he feels valued by Barcelona and that the  “is well on its way.” The Midfielder stated that “it’s a topic that my representative is handling, but I’m in the best possible situation to renew my contract. The former Argentine skipper also added,  "I’m very happy, and I want to continue with FC Barcelona for many years.” He also had this to say about his decision to join the Catalans, “it was the best decision I ever made in my life, because otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible to achieve everything I have.”

On the change of guard from Pep Guardiola to Tito Vilanova, the Blaugrana player stated that he sees no personal change in the former assistant manager’s behaviour, “he’s as calm and tranquil as ever.” He added, “it’s obvious that we all have to adjust to the change. However, I don’t think the change will be drastic, because everything we’ve been doing in recent years with Pep was agreed with Tito.”

When asked about the Ballon D'Or, Mascherano was quick to add that he would give the title to Messi, Xavi and Iniesta in that order although his opinion is personal.

He also talked about this years Uefa Champions League competition and admitted Real Madrid “will be one of the big challengers,” but went ahead to caution that every team is starting over and that “we have to respect all of our opponents.” Whatever happens, according to the Argentine, Barça’s players “must focus on their behaviour in order to be able to compete at the highest level on the pitch.”

It is no longer news that the Court of Arbitration for Sport has had the lifetime ban imposed on former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohamed Bin Hammam rescinded. Bin Hamman was last year found guilty by the FIFA ethics committee of offering cash gifts totalling close to $1 million to CONCACAF officials during his campaign to be elected the president of world football's governing body in 2011. Yo will recall that this scandal led the 63 yr old Qatari to pull out of the FIFA presidential race days before the election, paving the way for incumbent Sepp Blatter to continue unopposed for another four-year term.

Former AFC President And FIFA Executive Committe Member Mohammed Bin Hamman.

Although the CAS ruling does not explicitly affirm the former AFC president innocent due to lack of evidence, it stated that FIFA is still free to bring fresh proceedings against him if new evidence is found. Reacting, FIFA unequivocally condemned the CAS decision, saying: "FIFA has noted with concern the decision announced today by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the Mohamed Bin Hammam case.

This episode now adds another dent to the game and its administrators after last week's allegation of  corruption against former FIFA president with the release of court documents which showed that the ex-president Joao Havelange and former executive committee member Ricardo Teixeira took multi-million dollar bribes on World Cup deals in the 1990s. The stench keeps getting stronger. Who knows the next big wig to be exposed.