By Paul Nicholson
October 22 – Latest rumours are that Asia’s FIFA vice-president Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein of Jordan has been persuaded to run for the presidency of FIFA. If confirmed he could be the third candidate prepared to take on current FIFA president Sepp Blatter in his bid for a fifth term at the head of the world governing body.
The entrance of Prince Ali into the race would raise a number of intriguing voting possibilities as it is certain he would win votes from the anti-Blatter section of Europe, led by UEFA president Michel Platini who has ruled himself out of the running but said he would support any candidate running against Blatter.
Indeed, it is understood that Prince Ali is considering running following the encouragement of the Europeans who have been seeking alternative candidates to Blatter.
Ali would also be expected to win the support of most of his West Asian colleagues, though quite where Bahraini Shaikh Salman would position himself is unclear. Salman potentially has an election battle of his own to face next May for the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Prince Ali could also reasonably expect some support from CONCACAF federations, particularly the US and some Caribbean nations who have strong affiliations to their north American federation colleague. Platini also made a Caribbean visit this summer extending the hand of UEFA friendship and co-operation in the region.
Prince Ali’s term as the AFC’s FIFA vice-president comes to an end next year and he has already indicated he would seek election to one of the AFC’s other positions on the FIFA executive committee. At an informal meeting with journalists two weeks ago in Paris Prince Ali was not prepared to discuss the AFC presidency or the upcoming AFC elections.
In recent months he has become more outspoken in political circles and particularly on reform issues, being one of the FIFA exco members who believes the report into the allegations of wrongdoing in the 2018 and 2022 bids should be published.
If he does run for the presidency as well as being up against Blatter and Jerome Champagne, he could also face Harold Mayne Nicholls from Chile, who has confirmed is considering a bid. Mayne Nicholls was former president of the Chilean FA and head of the FIFA inspection committee for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.
At the Paris meeting with journalists Prince Ali, as an aside, said it would probably be a good day for FIFA when the general public worldwide did not know the name of the FIFA president, suggesting that more attention should be paid to the playing than the politics of the game.
Wishful thinking perhaps, but if he does decide to run then the lead-in to the FIFA presidential election in May next year looks to become more exciting than had previously been expected.
Candidates have to declare that they are running for election by January 29, four months before the election.
Contact the writer of this story at paul.nicholson@insideworldfootball,com