Hayatou, Chung Mong-joon Arrive in Beijng to Seek Vote

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, May 13, 2002

Hayatou, Chung Mong-joon Arrive in Beijng to Seek Vote

FIFA president Sepp Blatter's opponents Issa Hayatou and Chung Mong-joon arrived in Beijing on Sunday to seek a vote of the Chinese Football Association in the presidency election.

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FIFA president Sepp Blatter's opponents Issa Hayatou and Chung Mong-joon arrived in Beijing on Sunday to seek a vote of the Chinese Football Association in the presidency election.

FIFA vice president and African soccer chief Hayatou, the sole presidency challenger to Swiss Blatter, arrived in the Chinese capital at 7:45 Beijing time.

Four hours later, Hayatou's most powerful supporter Chung, a FIFA vice president and co-chairman of the South Korean World Cup organizing committee, walked out of the Beijing Airport.

Hayatou promised five World Cup finals berths for Asia if he was elected on May 29. He told reporters that he hoped CFA supported him on the election day.

Chung told reporters at the Beijing Airport that Hayatou was trustworthy, referring to the Cameroonian's promise of five Asian World Cup slots.

Hayatou and Chung will stay in Beijing for one day and their talks with CFA won't be disclosed, a source with Hayatou told Xinhua.

In another development of FIFA power struggle, supporters of Blatter have gagged general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen and removed him from financial control of the world soccer body.

FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren confirmed Sunday a report in the weekly SonntagsZeitung that the eight-member emergency committee had banned Zen-Ruffinen from talking to the media under threat of disciplinary action.

The body's finance director, Urs Linsi, will no longer report to Zen-Ruffinen but instead to FIFA vice president Julio Grondona,who is a Blatter supporter.

The paper said the decision was final. Herren said it would take effect immediately but he believed it would eventually have to be ratified by the full FIFA executive committee.

On Friday, 11 members of the Executive Committee made a criminal complaint against Blatter alleging corruption and financial mismanagement.

Their move was based on allegations made by Zen-Ruffinen in a document submitted to the Executive Committee earlier this month.

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