April 27 – Asian football chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa may have suffered an untimely blow over fresh revelations about his general secretary Dato’ Alex Soosay but it seems clear the claims have not affected FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s opinion of the AFC or its leader.
Blatter heads to Bahrain for Thursday’s Asian Football Confederation Congress preparing for another charm offensive which he hopes will cement the Asian vote at the FIFA presidential election on May 29.
Despite the fact that one of Blatter’s challengers is FIFA’s Asian vice-president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein from Jordan, who is hoping to split the Asian vote, his latest column in FIFA’s FIFA Weekly magazine left little doubt about the strength of his relationship with Salman.
Blatter hailed the AFC president as “a wonderful host [and] important figurehead for integration in this continent of such multi-faceted cultural diversity.”
“The AFC symbolises the importance of football as a school of life and an integrative force in promoting social equality,” Blatter added.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734889318labto1734889318ofdlr1734889318owedi1734889318sni@w1734889318ahsra1734889318w.wer1734889318dna1734889318
