By Andrew Warshaw in Sao Paulo
June 10 – The youngest and most reformist member of FIFA’s inner sanctum, Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan (pictured right), was dramatically shunted out of office as Asia’s FIFA vice-president today when the region took what could prove a totally misguided decision to merge his position with that of AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (pictured left) in 2015, thereby giving the Bahraini total control of an organisation he only inherited a year ago.
Whilst the decision to change the statutes brought the Asian Football Confederation into line with four of the five other confederations in terms of hierarchy and structure, in one fell swoop it removed arguably Asian football’s most pro-active and forward-thinking figure just at the time the organisation needs to keep pace with modern trends and improve its tarnished image.
The staggering manner of Prince Ali’s defeat – only three of the 46 federations in attendance failed to support Sheikh Salman – was in stark contrast with a similar merger proposal just a year ago that was crushed decisively and raised questions about what, if anything, member federations had been offered by Salman in return for their votes.
One source told INSIDEworldfootball the pledge by Salman to create a new central AFC region for six member nations certainly won him crucial support.
But it left Prince Ali, who has done more than anyone to improve Asian football at grassroots level with the introduction of the Asian Football Development Project, looking thoroughly crestfallen at the organisation’s extraordinary congress here after realising that his grip on the FIFA vice-presidency will end a year from now.
Prince Ali, elected three years ago, has been in his post two years longer than Salman has been in his. That should have made a difference but it didn’t as the balance of power shifted decisively towards the AFC president who was able to count on the crucial lobbying of Sheikh Ahmad, the highly influential president of the Olympic Council of Asia who forcefully backed Salman in the bitter AFC election campaign last year.
In fact, one AFC executive committee member, when asked why virtually the whole confederation had switched sides, told INSIDEworldfootball it was down to “the Kuwaiti factor.”
Prince Ali, in the briefest of speeches, did not challenge the result and kept his dignity by calling for unity but inside he must have been seething at having his work cut short in terms of developing the game on and off the field and eliminating some of the wrongdoings that have plagued Asian football Having supported Sheikh Salman’s bid to become AFC president, he now finds himself weighing up his own options which could include going for the FIFA executive committee seat that will be freed up by the merger, or even taking on Salman for the AFC presidency.
In his address, Salman did his best to offset any suggestion that the merger was a deliberate ploy to increase his power base.
“Today, we have reached an important decision in the spirit of the AFC’s long-held tradition of democracy,” he told delegates. “Disagreement over issues does not mean discontent or disharmony. We have decided that the seat of FIFA Vice-President should go to the AFC President. Our Member Associations believe that this is the right decision for our organisation.”
The Congress also approved other amendments to the Statutes including the formation of a dual chamber Ethics Committee similar to that of FIFA. “The business here has been conducted positively, with great dignity and mutual respect and I am certain that we will move forward with this spirit of cooperation and unity,” said Salman. “The decisions taken here will enrich our game and enable us to thrive. I will continue to lead by example … and work hand in hand with all our member associations.”
After scoring a huge political victory Salman told INSIDEworldfootball that even before he took over the AFC, “there was a mood to make a change. Ask the people who voted today why they did.”
A source close to Prince Ali, who only needed 12 votes to stay in his post and was not making any official comment until he digests the result, said the Jordanian football boss, a positive force for football and part of a royal family that has a long tradition of being involved on sports, was unlikely just to walk away from AFC activities., “He has several options open to him. He could be involved in many ways. Salman came to unite the two positions. That was his objective – and unfortunately he got his way. But it’s not over by any means.”
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