By Andrew Warshaw in Manama, Bahrain
April 28 – Forty-eight hours before far-reaching elections that could shape the future of Asian football, Qatar’s bid for a place at the top table of FIFA was withdrawn today after its federation vice-president Saud Al Mohannadi pulled out of the running, fuelling the prospect of a powerful alliance between the Continent’s two most influential sports officials.
Two years after 2022 World Cup CEO Hassan al-Thawadi put up a brave fight before being ultimately foiled in his bid for a spot on FIFA’s executive committee, Al Mohannadi decided not to risk going the same way at Thursday’s eagerly-awaited ballot at the 47-nation Asian Football Confederation Congress.
His withdrawal left six candidates vying for three Asian FIFA exco seats, with Kuwaiti Olympic supremo Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah almost certain to be one of those elected on Thursday. He paid a visit to Qatar immediately after the Sport Accord Congress in Sochi last week.
As soon as Sheikh Ahmad threw his hat into the ring, it was clear al Mohannadi would have his work cut out because of Asia’s traditional geo-political quota system.
Putting on brave face, the Qatari said he had pulled out because West Asia, also represented by Oman’s Khalid Al Busaidi, should throw its weight behind one candidate.
“I am grateful to the football fraternity for their wholehearted support,” Al Mohannadi said in a statement. “I hope Asian football remains united and prospers as a powerful football body.”
As a compromise, the Qatari will instead be elected one of the AFC’s vice presidents but as Congress approached, a likely alliance was shaping up between Sheikh Ahmad and AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who is standing unopposed for re-election in his home country.
Sheikh Salman, elected AFC president two years ago, will be delighted at having his power base cemented by his ally, who has led the influential Olympic Council of Asia since 1991 and is honorary president of the Kuwaiti FA. Both are strong supporters of FIFA president Sepp Blatter who will find himself very much among friends when he takes his seat at Thursday’s final confederation Congress of the year.
That will be of little comfort to Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein who is standing against Blatter at next month’s FIFA presidential election and is lobbying hard as he bids for the top job after losing his Asian FIFA vice-presidency to Salman under a controversial AFC statutes change.
Founder of the West Asian Football Federation grouping, Prince Ali is confident of splitting the Asian vote next month and it will fascinating to gauge what kind of dynamic emerges when Asia’s member nations gather for this final regional summit of federations before the FIFA presidential showdown on May 29.
Prince Ali will be joined by the other two candidates campaigning to take over from Blatter, Michael van Praag and Luis Figo, as all three make a final effort to clinch crucial support before the whole caboozle switches to Zurich.
All three of them need to make considerable in-roads into Blatter territory to stand any chance of success and while it is expected that the AFC will endorse Blatter, just as it has from day one after he announced he was standing again, it will be interesting to see whether each and every member association rise in unison to give him the kind of acclamation he will hope for.
As ever with Asian football, nothing is certain and other agendas invariably come into play.
Just when the AFC, for so long embroiled in allegations of wrongdoing, were hoping for a clean and uncontroversial build-up to Thursday’s summit, along came another potential scandal.
Normally individual confederations hold an executive committee meeting the day before their annual congress at which agenda items are run through and additions to changes discussed.
But last week, AFC executive committee members received a letter from the body’s general secretary Dato’ Alex Soosay informing them that their meeting on the eve of Congress had been called off.
All they were told in the letter was that the exco meeting had been cancelled because of the “tight preparation schedule” for the Congress itself.
Whilst there was no direct evidence of behind-the-scenes manoeuvring, eyebrows raised at the unusual break with tradition.
Then, out of the blue, came stunning allegations regarding Soosay that seem bound to overshadow proceedings in Bahrain just when Sheikh Salman hopes his re-election will take centre stage. At what is already likely to be a heavyweight occasion in Bahrain, Soosay, Salman’s right-hand man, found himself at the heart of an alleged cover-up.
According to reports in his native Malaysia, Soosay allegedly asked for potentially incriminatory evidence against him to be removed during the 2012 PriceWaterhouseCooper (PwC) internal audit that was prompted by claims of malpractise by former AFC supremo Mohamed bin Hammam and which ultimately led to him being banned for life for a second time. Soosay has vehemently denied the claims insisting they are designed to smear his name.
But as delegates arrived for Thursday’s Congress, the story was very much in the public domain, hardly the kind of script Salman and his inner circle anticipated as they prepared to further cement their authority.
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