By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – Twenty-four hours after being sworn in as the new leader of Asian football, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa followed up his election victory with a call to the warring factions to put an end to all the sniping and backbiting and come together for the common good. But festering resentment still remains.
In a wide-ranging speech to the Asian Football Confederation congress in Kuala Lumpur, the head of Bahraini football spoke about creating a united confederation even though that might be easier said than done given there is less than two years before his term ends and yet another election takes place.
“I will start working in earnest on delivering my manifesto because reuniting the Asian football community is the need of the hour,” Salman said.
At a post-election press conference, Salman referred specifically to the corruption-tainted AFC’s recent past. “”We all know in the last two years the issues the AFC has faced and it is our duty to look at them, and what is the proper way to solve them,” Salman told reporters.
“We should look at details of the AFC’s past and try and correct them for the future. We need be united, to bring everyone in one path, to look ahead to our goals, to achieve our targets, to get as many things done as possible especially by the year 2015. There are many great things that can be done in two years’ time.
“We should look carefully at our challenges such as match fixing which is a disease. We have zero tolerance to match fixing and corruption practices and we need to make full use of all our tools to fight this phenomenon.
“This problem should not only be tackled from the football side only, but also we need good policing and support from the governments – and we should try to create mechanisms to tackle this issue in Asia.”
Salman’s landslide victory, with the required two-thirds majority in the first round of voting, firmly closed the door on the Mohamed bin Hammam era but it was clear resentment still lingered. InsideWorldFootball has learned that the post-election gala dinner hosted by the AFC was snubbed by Salman’s two election opponents, Yousuf Al-Serkal and Worawi Makudi – both allies of the discredited bin Hammam.
The pair were due to take their place at the top table, one of them sitting close to UEFA boss Michel Platini. But after being crushed in the ballot, both stayed away rather than face sharing in the celebration of Salman’s jaw-dropping triumph, leaving both seats somewhat embarrassingly unoccupied.
In the build-up to the vote, it was rumoured FIFA Vice President Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan would support Salman but he kept a diplomatic silence until the ballot was over before issuing a statement.
“I would like to congratulate Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa for winning the elections today and assuming the responsibilities of the Presidency of the Asian Football Confederation, and I would also like to welcome him on the FIFA Executive Committee,” said Prince Ali, who will now also be sitting round the same table as Salman at the FIFA executive committee.
“Developing the sport in the world’s most diverse and populous continent is a great challenge but the potential is even greater. I look forward to working closely with Sheikh Salman to serve and unite Asian football and bring the focus back to the game, the players, national teams, clubs and fans.”
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