Shamed FIFA official Bhamjee says only wanted to help

GABORONE, June 21 (Reuters) Former Botswana Football Association president Ismail Bhamjee, expelled from the World Cup in Germany by FIFA over a ticket scandal, said today he had acted in the belief he was helping desperate fans.

Bhamjee met Botswana and regional soccer officials in the Botswana capital Gaborone today to explain the circumstances surrounding his expulsion.

Bhamjee admitted selling 12 tickets at three times their face value for last week's match between England and Trinidad&Tobago in Nuremberg, and was ordered to leave Germany by FIFA president Sepp Blatter. He returned home yesterday.

''I was at all times during the sale process under the impression that I was assisting and helping some unfortunate fans who were desperate to see their country play at the World Cup,'' Bhamjee said in a statement.

''The tickets were sourced upon request by England fans whom I met at a restaurant in Frankfurt and who were complaining about poor allocation of tickets,'' Bhamjee said, adding that he had not been involved in ''ticket touting business.'' ''Even if I personally do not continue in any official capacity, I remain a passionate supporter of Botswana and African football,'' the 62-year-old Bhamjee said, admitting to an error of judgment in selling the tickets.

Newspapers and radio stations in Botswana and neighbouring South Africa, Malawi and Mozambique have slammed Bhamjee over the incident over the past three days, many saying he had severely hurt the image of the continent.

Bhamjee signed a statement admitting selling 12 tickets for last week's England match for 300 euros (379.90 dollars) each, three times the face value, FIFA said in a statement.

Executive committee members are paid 500 a day expenses while on official FIFA duty. In addition they are paid 100,000 dollars a year while members of the board.

FIFA sources said Blatter was furious with the harm Bhamjee has done to the image of world soccer's governing body that he will force Bhamjee to resign from the executive committee before his term of office expires in January.

Bhamjee faces formal investigation by FIFA's Ethics Committee, Disciplinary Committee and Executive Committee.

Bhamjee's position in African football was weakened considerably in 2004 when he made a bid for the presidency of the Confederation of African Football and trounced by incumbent president Issa Hayatou of Cameroon.

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