By Andrew Warshaw
March 8 – One of the candidates bidding to become the next Asian football chief has described as “crazy” Michel Platini’s idea that Qatar share the 2022 World Cup with its neighbours.
The UEFA boss wants football’s showpiece tournament to be extended beyond the tiny Gulf state and become a wider Middle East tournament and is also leading calls for the event to be moved to the winter to avoid the soaring summer heat.
But United Arab Emirates boss Yousuf Al Serkal, who is contesting the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation at elections in early May, says the suggestion is simply a non-starter.
“It is a crazy idea,” Al Serkal said. “First of all this cannot happen. The FIFA executive committee has already taken a decision and awarded the 2022 World Cup to the Qataris.”
Al Serkal told Reuters he would never consider asking for part of the World Cup even though he comes from one of the countries Platini has in mind.
“We support Qatar to host the World Cup independently and we are not interested in any sharing,” he said. “On the contrary, we have put ourselves at the disposal of the Qataris for any support they might require, be it logistically or whatever.”
Al Serkal, currently AFC vice-president, also supports the introduction of goalline technology, again in total opposition to Platini’s views. “I think it is a good idea. I am definitely a supporter.”
Al Serkal, who was in Amman, Jordan, this week at a meeting of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), is up against Bahrain football supremo Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Saudi Arabia’s Hafez Ibrahim Al Medlej and, from south-east Asia, Thailand’s Worawi Makudi for AFC president.
The vast confederation has been without a permanent leader for two years, with China’s Zhang Jilong doing the job on an interim basis.
Negotiations to try and settle on a single candidate from West Asia failed at the Amman summit, which Al Khalifa decided to skip, with a further meeting planned next month. But as InsideWorldFootball has already reported, Al Serkal all but admitted it was likely two contenders rather than one would end up staying in the race from the region to take on Makudi.
“There is a good chance that there will be an understanding between me and Al Medlej. We will continue an open-minded dialogue between us,” he said. “But at this moment it is unlikely that there will be any agreement between us and Sheikh Salman.”
Al Khalifa, as well as vying for the presidency, is also back in the hunt for a seat on FIFA’s executive committee. He narrowly failed to beat bin Hammam in a bitter battle four years ago and this time is up against Hassan Al Thawadi, the chief organiser and public face of Qatar’s World Cup.
It is clear there is no love lost between Al Serkal and Al Khalifa. “Choosing between Sheikh Salman and Al Thawadi I will definitely back the Qatari,” Al Serkal said.
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