By Andrew Warshaw
December 11 – Without being able to rely on the majority support of his own confederation, FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein has been lobbying intensively in Africa, trying to swing some of its 54 votes his way ahead of the election on February 26.
Although Africa is likely to line up behind its own candidate Tokyo Sexwale, it is still fertile territory and on a stop-off in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, Prince Ali played up the Continent’s role in the future of world football’s corruption-plagued governing body following the avalanche of bribery allegations and arrests.
“The election to come is crucial,” Prince Ali told reporters before moving on to Nigeria.
“We cannot have a secretive organisation. My fear is if we do not get this right, there are a lot of people out there calling to change FIFA, to have a different organisation.
“Africa is crucial for what we want to do, to develop football. We need to develop infrastructure, the stadiums, the teams. The potential is absolutely incredible. The moment has come for Africa to play a leadership role.”
Prince Ali faces stiff competition in the race to succeed Sepp Blatter, in particular Michel Platini’s right-hand man at UEFA, Gianni Infantino (provided Platini himself is not cleared to run) and Asian football chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa of Bahrain.
In Nigeria Prince Ali met with federation president Amaju Pinnick and continue banging the same election drum. “I am young and energetic and we need a young man who can withstand the rigours of travelling the length and breadth of all the countries that make up FIFA,” he said.
Whether that will make any difference in the run-up to the election remains to be seen. Persuading individual federations to reject the party line imposed by the Confederation of African Football will be a tough ask for the Jordanian, as Pinnick himself made clear.
”I’m happy with Hussein because he is the best out of the rest. He is a go-getter,” Pinnick was quoted as saying. “He belongs to my generation (but) we are united with CAF during the elections.”
Prince Ali has also been on the lobbying trail in the USA where he was asked at a recent briefing about the FIFA reform package unveiled last week. His response was that it didn’t go far enough.
“I disagree with a three-term limit,” he said. “I think a two-term limit for the president and the executive … should be the case. Right now they have a three-term limit that starts in three years. If you’ve been there for 20 years, you can continue for another 17 or 15 years. It’s not where it should be.”
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