By Andrew Warshaw at the Dead Sea, Jordan
May 4 – Back in his comfort zone after being made to feel more than a little marginalised by his own confederation which clearly views his bid for the FIFA presidency as a unwanted distraction, Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein pulled no punches about the need for greater democracy among his colleagues when he opened the Soccerex Asian forum here today.
Just days after being denied the opportunity to address his own Asian Football Confederation about how he would change FIFA if he somehow manages to unseat Sepp Blatter on May 29, Prince Ali made it abundantly clear there is no love lost between himself and the AFC top brass headed by Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa
Out of the firing line of Bahrain and back on safe territory in Jordan, Prince Ali took the opportunity to get back at his own confederation for snubbing him and the other two FIFA presidential candidates – Michael van Praag and Luis Figo – whilst allowing Sepp Blatter to speak as the present incumbent even though all the other confederations except UEFA did likewise, rightly or wrongly, at their respective congresses.
“Our continent is about dignity and respect,” he told his audience. “Hospitality is also crucial for us, and for me it was shocking that Europe invited us all to take the stage but when others came to my continent they were not given that chance. And that’s a big problem I see.
“It was their congress but to me it was shocking. Even if I wasn’t running myself, I would have made sure that you’d get all four candidates on the stage with the chance to ask them questions and get to know what their programmes are, and to see where we can benefit and base our decisions on that.
“Unfortunately that was not the case, not even in my own confederation. The reasoning was that the incumbent was speaking only as the president of FIFA and not campaigning when we could all pretty much see that there was some campaigning going on. I am concerned that if that attitude takes place at the top level of football, what does that mean for national associations themselves?”
Prince Ali still hopes to split the Asian vote but his remarks will not go down too well with a majority of his pro-Blatter confederation. Nevertheless, he had a point to prove – and a strong one.
Sheikh Salman was at pains in his AFC Congress speech last week to stress unity and democracy but refused the president of the South Korean FA permission to make a public verbal complaint about the way in which elections to FIFA’s inner circle were conducted.
“On the one hand you say…you have to be democratic but you don’t apply it to the top level of football? And that’s a big problem I see,” said Prince Ali.
Unless he wins the presidency, he will leave the FIFA executive committee after four years because his FIFA vice-presidency seat is being taken by Shaikh Salman.
That will effectively end his relationship with FIFA at the age of 39 though he will continue to run both Jordanian football and the not-for-profit Asian Football Development Project as well as hold positions on several regional AFC committees.
Some insiders believe he could get as many as 15 of the 46 Asian votes on May 29, others that it could be as few as three. Whatever happens, he seems determined to get his message across right up to finishing line.
“We have to be a lot more open and transparent in how we do things. There’s nothing to hide – or there shouldn’t be.”
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