By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 14 – The outgoing head of the Asian Football Confederation has called for unity as lobbying intensifies ahead of the AFC presidential election in May.
Zhang Jilong has urged AFC members to restore the “health and glory” of the 47-nation confederation after months of match-fixing and corruption allegations.
The AFC has been without a permanent president since Mohamed Bin Hammam resigned and was banned for life by FIFA. Zhang has held the job on an acting basis for the best part of two years and FIFA president Sepp Blatter, for one, has expressed his surprise that the Chinese administrator did not throw his hat into the ring to replace bin Hammam on a permanent basis.
“AFC has really suffered in the recent past and it is our duty to restore it back to its health and glory,” Jilong said in a statement. “We are the guardians of Asian football and we should be seen as shining examples of honesty, integrity, and transparency.”
On Monday, however, FIFA executive committee member Vernon Manilal Fernando of Sri Lanka, a close ally of Bin Hammam, became the latest high-ranking Asian official to be sanctioned when FIFA barred him from all football activity for three months while an ongoing probe into alleged misuse of AFC funds continues.
Fernando will therefore not be allowed to vote in Kuala Lumpur on May 2, another blow to strike at the heart of the scandal-torn Asian football hierarchy.
Jilong has consistently insisted he made his decision not to run of his own free will yet he still seems intent on keeping silent about the precise reasons. Rumours suggest he didn’t have enough support from within his own government or from AFC members but Jilong said in his outgoing statement he simply wanted to “reduce tension” and that he tried his best in his capacity as caretaker.
“I am really honoured that I was entrusted with the caretaker job while the AFC was in its most difficult period,” said Jilong, after chairing his last AFC executive committee meeting. “I am happy that I did my part to maintain the stability of AFC. I was able to lead successfully only because of your cooperation and support.”
With six weeks of campaigning left, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa from Bahrain is considered the front-runner for AFC president though his rivals Worawi Makudi of Thailand, Hafez Ibrahim Al Medlej of Saudi Arabia and Yousuf Al Serkal from the United Arab Emirates are all lobbying strongly.
It is widely anticipated that at least one of the three West Asian contenders will ultimately make a strategic decision to withdraw to give the region a greater chance of success.
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