Bin Hammam unveils manifesto he hopes will unseat Blatter

By Michael Church in Kuala Lumpur

March 18 – Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohamed Bin Hammam declared his long-speculated intention to run against incumbent Sepp Blatter for the role of FIFA President on June 1, outlining plans to significantly overhaul the game’s decision making body.

Bin Hammam made his announcement at the AFC’s headquarters in the Malaysian capital here this afternoon with the need for change the cornerstone of his manifesto.

“Today, after careful study, consultation and consideration, armed with my love and passion for football and believing that football is about fair competition, I have decided to contest the upcoming FIFA Presidency Election, scheduled on June 1, 2011,” said the Qatari.

“I am glad to say that the AFC Executive Committee encouraged me and supported me in my candidacy and I am inviting the member associations, football communities and media to be part of my humble endeavour to make the change that is necessary and needed in FIFA.

“I will be looking to develop the game to its best in both professional and amateur levels, on and off the field and make it accessible to each and every level of our global community.”

Perhaps the most striking facet of Bin Hammam’s manifesto is his proposal to increase the size of FIFA’s decision-making body from 24 to 41 members in a bid to avoid a repeat of the criticism the organisation faced during the bidding battle for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

He has also suggested renaming the Executive Committee as the FIFA Board while also establishing a FIFA Executive Office, which will see the Presidents of the six confederations assuming membership alongside the FIFA president.

“I will increase the members of the FIFA Executive Committee,” said Bin Hammam.

“In my opinion, I will propose that UEFA gets four more seats, CAF four more seats, Asia four more seats, CONCACAF three more seats, CONMEBOL one more seat and OFC one more seat.

“A new Executive Committee will be coming, 40 members plus the president is 41 and it will avoid as much as possible for the privilege of the casting vote going to the president.

“Naturally all of those people are going to be democratically elected through their confederation’s congresses and I know the public is going to be interested also to know what are the financial benefits and the remuneration for those members. I will make it public.

“I will rename the Executive Committee the FIFA Board and will transfer all the duties and the responsibilities of the Executive Committee as it is today to the FIFA Board. I will establish an Executive Office.”

Bin Hammam, however, was adamant that FIFA is not corrupt and believes his initiative will go some way towards satisfying concerns that too much power is held in the hands of too few.

“Thirteen people can decide whatever they want in the world of football and this is where, maybe, people are a little bit uncomfortable and they need to see some changes,” he said.

“I make myself very clear: I don’t think that FIFA is a corrupt organisation.

“I work within FIFA and any time things happen here or there, we discuss it and we put it in its place but this is how people think: because 13 people are making the decision then they could be corrupted.”

Bin Hammam is also proposing to decentralise much of the development work currently undertaken by FIFA and handing control of that to the various confederations while he also intends to increase the annual handouts received by national associations from FIFA and to establish a transparency committee.

“My chances are 50-50,” he said of the coming battle.

“Mr Blatter is a well-experienced person, he has headed football for quite long and he has made significant contributions towards the development of the game worldwide when he was general secretary and when he was President.

“The world knows him very well but I believe also that there is a time limit for everything and I believe it is now time for new faces, new blood and new air in FIFA and this is my message and I hope that the voters are going to address these things.

“Of course, I have experience of developing Asian football for eight years.

“Asian football and the AFC were not as they are today and I managed to launch Vision Asia, help to develop elements of football across Asia and I will take this experience with me if I am elected as President of FIFA to the rest of the world.”