By Andrew Warshaw
February 4 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein is back on the offensive, this time over the controversial decision to block $20 million in funding to CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, the two confederations at the centre of football’s worst ever corruption crisis.
Prince Ali claims the decision is ill-timed and is “holding votes to ransom” ahead of the ballot in Zurich on February 26.
The two regions, which cover the whole of the Americas, make up 45 of FIFA’s 209 member federations and Prince Ali railed: “I have read reports that a FIFA spokesperson has announced that funding to CONCACAF and CONMEBOL has been suspended with immediate effect.”
“Who is the spokesman; which FIFA committee does he represent; who decided that 45 member associations should suffer collective punishment as a result of individuals’ bad actions. Who decided to hold these votes to ransom less than three weeks before the election and who exactly will decide when the funding will be reinstated?”
Had Prince Ali not acted with quite so much haste, he would have got his answer.
Insideworldfootball reported exclusively, just before his statement came out, that the decision to block funding came from Fifa’s audit and compliance committee, headed by Domenico Scala.
Scala also happens to run the independent body that monitors the election process and must remain neutral in the contest, suggesting Prince Ali might have scored something of an own goal in terms of questioning Scala’s motives. Sources close to Scala’s office take the view that the move to block funding was made to prevent any more of FIFA’s money being squandered rather than a punitive measure.
Over the past few weeks, the reform-minded Ali, never afraid to speak his mind, has come out fighting at the slightest hint of dirty tricks.
First he criticised a co-operation agreement between the African and Asian confederations, the latter run by his arch-rival for the FIFA presidency, Sheikh Salman. Then he pulled out of a proposed televised debate amongst the candidates due to be staged at the European Parliament, citing unidentified parties warning that appearing could constitute political interference.
Whether his latest attack will harm his presidential chances remains to be seen. Prince Ali’s supporters insist he is the only candidate with the courage and honesty to question dubious FIFA decisions. He, like others, has been fiercely lobbying CONCACAF and CONMEBOL and critics claim his latest outburst serves only to illustrate his frustration at being behind in the race to take over from Blatter.
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