By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 26 – You know instinctively when battle lines start to be drawn for FIFA presidential elections. A raft of media organisations camp outside the various confederation hotels keen to pick up any gossip in terms of how the ballot is likely to play out and any late tactical changes of allegiance.
So it was on Tuesday when Zurich’s Renaissance hotel became a hub of activity as Sepp Blatter and Prince Ali bin al-Hussein addressed delegates from CONCACAF, the first of four mini-congresses the two challengers will visit by Thursday afternoon.
The CONCACAF event was deliberately timed so that Blatter and Prince Ali did not cross paths. Whether they managed to swing any votes their way was hard to guage but on his way out, Blatter, the odds-on favourite to secure a fifth term on Friday, stopped briefly to talk to reporters who homed in on him with questions about being labeled a dictator by Luis Figo, the rank outsider who pulled out as a candidate last week
“Luis Figo is free to say what he wants to say. He is a free man, he is a footballer,” Blatter responded. “I have received so many titles but I still have the title of FIFA president at least until six o’clock on Friday.”
Two of the six confederations cancelled their sessions, Oceania and Asian Football Confederation.
The latter issued a statement explaining there was no actual need to meet, given the fact they had only recently staged their full congress in Bahrain. But the hidden message might have been that the AFC was uncomfortable about allowing Prince Ali to address delegates when he was refused permission to do exactly the same only a couple of weeks ago and when his own region has pledged its support to the present incumbent.
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