Asian chief submits FIFA bid
Asia’s football chief Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa has formally submitted his bid for the FIFA presidency, a report said, drastically shaking up the election race for the scandal-plagued world body.
The 49-year-old Bahraini royal registered his bid on Sunday, according to the Bahrain News Agency, a day ahead of the deadline for the February 26 election.
Confirmation was not available from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) or FIFA, which said it would issue a statement when the deadline has passed.
Shaikh Salman would be a serious contender to take over from the beleaguered Sepp Blatter given his position as head of FIFA’s second-largest confederation.
He would further drain support from UEFA chief Michel Platini, whom he formerly backed for the job and who is suspended pending a probe into a $2 million payment from FIFA.
The soft-spoken sheikh is also likely to torpedo the bid of his Jordanian rival Prince Ali bin al Hussein by robbing him of a significant number of Asian votes.
He looks set to become one of six candidates vying for a job which is under heightened scrutiny after a series of corruption scandals allegedly involving senior officials.
Frenchman Jerome Champagne, Trinidad and Tobago’s David Nakhid and South African anti-apartheid campaigner Tokyo Sexwale have also declared their candidacies for the vote in Zurich.
Shaikh Salman has a powerful ally in Kuwait’s FIFA executive committee member Sheikh Ahmad al Fahad al Sabah, who also heads the Olympic Council of Asia and the Association of National Olympic Committees.
A potential hurdle looms in the shape of human rights campaigners, who have accused Shaikh Salman of complicity in Bahrain’s harsh crackdown on pro-democracy activists in 2011.
Shaikh Salman denies the claim. After he won a landslide election to become AFC president in 2013, he challenged his detractors to produce evidence.
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
0 Comments
We will review and take appropriate action.