By John Duerden
April 16 – Hafez Al Medlej may be the forgotten candidate for the upcoming Asian Football Confederation presidential election but the Saudi appears to believe he could end up becoming the sole contender from West Asia at the May 2 ballot.
Chairman of the AFC marketing committee, it has been widely assumed that Al Medlej will throw in the towel in the buildup to the Kuala Lumpur election showdown in order to avoid the West Asian vote being split.
Al Medlej admits it has not been easy trying to find one consensus candidate from his region and that that there have been “problems” deciding which, if any, candidate should pull out.
But, he counters, Youssuf Al-Serkal of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa – the two heavyweight figures – may ultimately end up being forced to step down, leading to a straight contest between himself and the only non West Asian contender, Worawi Makudi of Thailand.
“I don’t mind going against Worawi but I mind going against someone from the same region,” Al Medlej told InsideWorldFootball. “We are one region and we have the same taste. We are very much alike. We should be united behind one candidate. West Asia needs only one candidate.”
Al Medlej was a surprise entrant in the race to find a successor to Mohamed Bin Hammam after the Qatari was suspended in May 2011 following accusations of vote-buying and financial irregularities.
According to the Saudi Arabian, Al-Serkal and Sheikh Salman pose the biggest vote-splitting danger resulting, perversely, in some nations possibly deciding to support Makudi instead.
“Some people who like the Gulf may not want to upset one of the two candidates and may not want to choose between the two candidates and could vote for Worawi. That is a worry.”
With both Al-Serkal and Sheikh Salman hosting large media events in the past 10 days to outline their vision for the future of the AFC, the chance of either pulling out just two weeks before the ballot looks slim.
Al Medlej, however, believes it is a possibility, pointing to the surprise decision of Zhang Jilong, who served as acting president of the AFC since May 2011, not to run for the permanent post, as evidence that the situation can change quickly.
“I learned from my experience that things change whether in a game of football or election so anything could happen. In normal circumstances, the other three will run against each other in the election but then nobody expected Zhang Jilong not to run. You never know what will happen.”
“Something might happen in the coming days and maybe some people from government from the Gulf countries will find a solution. You never know what the decision-makers will do. They are eager to find a solution.”
Despite Al Medlej’s remarks, it is understood that at a meeting earlier this month between all three West Asian hopefuls in Kuala Lumpur – where the election will take place – Al Medlej told both Al-Serkal and Sheikh Salman that he would step down a few days prior to the vote if they do not pull out.
So how come he seems to have changed his mind? Or has he? “If they continue, I will announce my withdrawal,” said Al Medlej appearing to contradict his previous bullish stance in what can only be interpreted as a piece of classic election manoevring designed not to give too much away too soon. “I have to give them a chance. If I withdraw now, they will say that I didn’t give them a chance to find a solution.”
Few expected Al Medlej to run at all. The ambitions of Al-Serkal, president of the UAE FA and vice-president of the AFC, and Bahrain FA chief Sheikh Salman have been an open secret in Asian football since it became apparent that Bin Hammam would not return to the post he held from 2002 to 2011. Yet in February, it was announced that Saudi Arabia was throwing its hand into the ring.
Seen in the AFC as a talented technocrat, it had been assumed that Al Medlej was running simply to raise his profile around the confederation with a future challenge in mind. He insisted this was not the case and that was asked by “non-sports leaders”, whose identity he refused to reveal, to challenge.
“On January 2, I received a call saying that there had been talks about me being the candidate and that is the wish of the Saudi government and other governments so I could not say no. I consider myself a devoted soldier.”
“As a country, Saudi Arabia is the big sister of the Gulf. Saudi Arabia was approached and told that if it puts a guy in the race, assuming that the candidate can organize the situation, then the other two candidates will eventually withdraw. As I was the one in the AFC Executive Committee, I was the one that everyone talked about.”
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