By Andrew Warshaw
October 14 – With potentially everything to lose if the FIFA presidential election is delayed, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan has seized the initiative by calling for the vote to take place as scheduled on February 26.
With Michel Platini and Chung Mong-joon both almost certain to miss out on succeeding Sepp Blatter after being suspended and banned respectively, Prince Ali, keen to make up for losing to Blatter in May, is currently the only heavyweight contender left in the running ahead of the October 26 deadline for nominations.
He knows full well that any delay could work against him and shift the momentum towards other potential candidates. It is no surprise, therefore, that he has called on next week’s emergency meeting of the FIFA executive committee not to “create further instability” by a postponement.
Prince Ali, who has not yet made public his required five nominations, once again does not have the support of his own Asian confederation but is confident of improving on the 73 votes he gained last time.
In his first public comment since Platini and Chung were sidelined (though both are appealing), he said: “Recent events at FIFA have shown us that no one is above the law. Delaying the scheduled election would only postpone needed change and create further instability. It would tell the world that lessons haven’t been learned, that the same backroom deals that have discredited FIFA in the first place continue.”
Prince Ali knows any election delay could give Platini more time to appeal against his 90-day provisional ban, together with a possible 45-day extension and the length of any appeals process. There is no love lost between the pair, the UEFA boss having backed the Jordanian royal last time, only to run against him this time.
Without Platini in the field, Prince Ali’s chances of winning could rise significantly – unless another significant challenger enters the race before October 26.
“Candidates have had plenty of time to declare and still do. The rules should not be changed after the game has started,” he declared.
Temporarily, African football chief Issa Hayatou is in charge of FIFA but Prince Ali added: “The Ethics Committee must now be allowed to do its work in a robust and timely fashion. With FIFA’s crisis deepening, the organisation needs to move beyond interim leadership and elect an accountable president.”
“Members of the FIFA Executive Committee (Exco) should remember that football associations, players, coaches and fans the world over are watching, The Exco should not interfere with an ongoing process that was put in place by the ad hoc electoral committee.
“The election date of February 26 was set three months ago with a clear procedure that meets all of FIFA’s statutory requirements.”
A meeting tomorrow of UEFA’s own top brass could be decisive for Platini, with the possibility of another European candidate being supported at short notice. That might or might not harm Prince Ali’s prospects but what certainly would is a late run by Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation.
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