By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 1 – The race to lead Asian football into a new era of unity and stability has suffered a dramatic blow amid reports that China’s Zhang Jilong (pictured), who has been in charge on an temporary basis for almost two years, has decided not contest the presidential election in early May.
Two days before the deadline for nominations, a source close to Zhang was quoted as saying the 61-year-old Chinese official will not be putting his name forward for either for Asian Football Confederation president – vacated by Mohamed bin Hammam – or to become a member of the FIFA executive committee.
“He’s not running. He has decided after long and careful thought,” the source said. “He doesn’t want the AFC to be split for the next two years. The member associations are split not in half, but in several parts. It’s his (Zhang’s) wish that the football family can get together, back to unity and solidarity. We hope that the less (candidates) the better, otherwise it will be certain chaos for the AFC.”
Remarkably, Zhang has held the role on an acting basis since May 2011 but has clearly been unable to garner enough support to land it on a permanent basis, such is the murky, politics-fuelled world of Asian football’s heirarchy.
It is rumoured (see also IWF http://www.insideworldfootball.com/inside-insight/12056-inside-insight-as-straight-as-an-arabian-dagger-the-race-for-the-afc-presidency) that the Kuwaiti promoter of Bahrain¹s Sheikh Salman, who has declared his candidacy, made a secret trip to China to see high ranking Chinese politicians and discourage Zhang from running, potentially in return for a seat on FIFA’s ExCo. But Zhang now apparently even excludes his candidacy for an ExCo membership.
The next president of the 46-nation confederation will be decided at the AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 2. The winner will complete bin Hammam’s current term, which runs until 2015.
Zhang reportedly made his decision before Friday’s meeting in Seoul of the East Asian Football Federation’s executive committee in a move that will be viewed as a body blow among reformists who are desperate for Asian football to restore transparency and credibility after a string of corruption cases. Zhang was chairman of the Finance Committee under Bin Hammam; pressure resulting from that long-term assignment may also have triggered his lack of enthusiasm for a run at the AFC presidency.
Earlier this week, controversial Thai football supremo Worawi Makudi, a bin Hammam ally and current FIFA exco member, threw his hat into the ring and is now expected to vie for the post along with Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, United Arab Emirates FA chief Yousuf Al Serkal and, possibly, Saudi Arabia’s Hafez El Medlej. The deadlines is March 3 for candidates to announce they are running.
Insideworldfootball has also learned that another contender might put his name forward before the Sunday deadline, possibly from South Korea – information that might have also influenced Zhang’s apparent decision not to stand.
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