By Andrew Warshaw
November 19 – Describing himself as the only “world candidate”, the Jordanian prince who took on Sepp Blatter and lost in last May’s FIFA presidential election believes his chances of success second time round are far better now that national federations no longer feel forced into voting for the veteran Swiss.
Former FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, one of five contenders seeking to replace the outgoing Blatter in February, risks being the only person ever to lose twice but is convinced that won’t happen and that he can do better than last time when he was beaten by 133 votes to 73.
Prince Ali held his first European media briefing on Wednesday since getting his campaign under way, telling reporters in London that he was only candidate who could bridge the gap between the elite federations and the smaller ones.
Despite the fact that he cannot count on the majority support of his own Asian confederation and no longer has UEFA on his side, Prince Ali says the experience of bidding only six months ago will work in his favour.
He believes national associations will no longer feel under pressure when it comes to casting their votes and says FIFA’s electoral committee have made it clear they will be watching closely to make sure the campaign is conducted cleanly and that confederation leaders do not abuse their positions by unduly influencing FIFA’s 209 voting members.
“All candidates have been given strict instructions on how the election should be run and the confederations cannot control the individual votes of their members,” said Prince Ali.
“I have to have trust and faith to ensure this is a proper election process. They (the confederations) can express an opinion but they are not allowed to pressure their associations. Under the terms of the election, unlike before, the electoral body has stipulated there can be no block voting by confederations, forcing them how to vote, as we used to see in the past.”
And that, he believes, could increase his chances of sneaking home on February 26.
“I’m probably the only candidate who does have support from all over the world. I’m there to fulfil the concerns, hopes and aspirations of countries from every different continent, small ones and large ones. I believe I can bridge that gap. I have a good understanding of football at elite level as well as developing level. I am much more confident this time in our national associations because I believe they feel there is a bit of a weight lifted off their shoulders.”
Asian Football Confederation chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, one of Prince Ali’s main rivals for the presidency, has already let it be known that any candidate without the backing of a confederation will find it extremely hard to win. Gianni Infantino, the UEFA general secretary who entered the race only when Michel Platini was suspended, is expected to gain the bulk of European support while Tokyo Sexwale, the anti-apartheid activist turned businessman, leads the way for Africa.
Prince Ali called on individual FAs to vote according to their consciences. “Make your own decision and don’t worry about external pressures. That’s how it should be,” he said.
He refused to add to previous comments that questioned whether Platini, who backed him last time but with whom there is now no love lost, had the credentials to stand. In fact he was at pains not to get personal at all, clearly aware how counter-productive that could prove now that all the candidates have been declared. “I won’t comment on individuals. What I will focus on is that we need a change of culture.”
But why take the risk a second time after appearing to indicate, following last May’s defeat, that he was not interested in going through it all again?
“I felt a deep sense of responsibility. I talked to others who were potential candidates at the time to see if they would do what was needed to be done and I did not get the encouragement that I needed, that is why I decided I definitely needed to get back into this.”
“What I saw (when I was) a member of the executive committee was that the only way to make changes was to make change from the top. There are a lot of good people within football and within the staff at FIFA but also it’s important to bring in people and advice from outside as well. We have to reverse the pyramid, put our fans and our players at the top of the pyramid and make FIFA into a service organisation.”
Prince Ali blames a “crisis of leadership” for FIFA’s failure to grasp the nettle and implement meaningful reform. He intends to take the best ideas on the table come February 26 and implement them straight away rather than prevaricate any longer.
One key difference between this campaign and the last is that he is calling on the expertise of his sister, Princess Haya, who stepped down last year as president of the international equestrian federation, the FEI.
“Her advice is critical. She’s done so much in terms of reform for a sports organisation herself. She was one of the first people who implemented the two-term limit within her federation and, if you look at the index for corruption within sports governance, the FEI is No1 in terms of best practice. That is what I want for FIFA.”
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