By Andrew Warshaw
January 28 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein has reacted with deliberate diplomacy to this week’s announcement by Dutch football chief Michael van Praag that he, too, is vying to take over from Sepp Blatter in May.
As Thursday’s deadline for nominations approached, Prince Ali, who has been keeping a relatively low media profile of late, issued a statement welcoming van Praag’s decision, describing him as a “credible candidate” who will add to the debate about the future of world football’s governing body.
“We welcome other credible colleagues from the football family who want to join a genuine debate about the future of FIFA,” said the Jordanian FA chief.
“This election campaign is not about personalities, it is about what is in the best interests of football and the world governing body of the game going forward. It is good for democracy that Michael Van Praag has made this announcement.”
Van Praag, who led a European rebellion against Blatter last summer, claims he has the necessary backing of five national associations to qualify as an official candidate and was preparing to provide more details at a news conference in Amsterdam later today where he bound to be asked about why he changed his mind about standing.
Prince Ali, currently a member of the FIFA executive committee and FIFA’s Asian vice-president, declared his candidacy earlier this month and although he does not have the full support of his own confederation, like van Praag he also seems likely to have sufficient backing to stand. England’s Football Association, for instance, are expected to align behind Prince Ali when they hold a board meeting on Thursday.
Former FIFA official Jerome Champagne, Chile’s Harold Mayne-Nicholls and the token candidacy of former French footballer David Ginola are also in the field – at least for the next 24 hours. Mayne-Nicholls was holding a news conference in Santiago later today to announce whether or not he is going forward.
As the battle lines take shape, so does the strategy of the anti-Blatter lobby. UEFA insist they are not endorsing any particular candidate, taking the view that the more reformist candidates who enter the contest, the more pressure that puts on Blatter – even if it means splitting the European vote.
Early days of course but Prince Ali’s statement was worded in a way that is open to interpretation. If he and Van Praag were, say, to join forces and one drops out just before the election and transfers his support to the other, that could present the only realistic chance of unseating Blatter.
Alternatively, the tactic could be having multiple candidates (there may still be more to come in the final 24 hours before the deadline) to create a broader anti-Blatter platform and stop him gaining a quick overall majority, with each withdrawing and transferring his votes on a round by round basis.
In any event, it promises to be an intriguing four months with Blatter the overwhelming favourite to secure a fifth term (possibly ultimately lining up alongside Champagne) whatever the tactics of his adversaries.
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