By Andrew Warshaw
February 21 – The battle to succeed Mohamed bin Hammam as head of Asian football has taken a surprising twist with Saudi Arabia’s Hafez Al Medlej (pictured left) almost certainly putting his name forward along with the anticipated contenders.
One other possible candidate is the present incumbent Zhang Jilong of China who has been doing the job on an interim basis since the downfall of bin Hammam following the 2011 cash-for-votes bribery scandal followed by a separate investigation into AFC finances under his presidency.
It is believed Zhang has not yet made up his mind whether to stand on a permanent basis.
Al Medlej’s decision has taken seasoned observers by surprise since, despite being a member of the AFC executive committee, he has hitherto had a relatively low-key profile within the hierarchy of Asian football. Interestingly, however, he is chairman of the AFC’s marketing committee which has been under severe scrutiny ever since an internal and highly revealing audit of AFC finances conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The fact that there are now likely to be at least three candidates from west Asia seems likely to result in considerable political in-fighting as the AFC attempts to rid itself of years of corruption allegations and warring factions, and start afresh.
Both Al-Medlej and Serkal, the latter a long-time ally of bin Hammam, are understood to be firmly in the Qatari former AFC President’s camp while Sheikh Salman is considered to be firmly opposed to any kind of bin Hammam legacy. Head of Bahraini football, four years ago Sheikh Salman lost out to bin Hammam by just two votes for a place on FIFA’s executive committee in a bitter campaign in which two ballot papers were spoiled.
The May 2 presidential election in Kuala Lumpur, which some Asian football administrators believe should be independently monitored to assure transparency, is second only in importance to the FIFA Congress in Mauritius three weeks later where delegates will vote on FIFA’s much discussed reforms.
Asia has been at the epicentre of scandals for the past 18 months and it is seen as vital that the presidential vote heralds in a new era for the Continent and becomes the driving force for positive change.
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