By David Gold
September 1 – Yousuf al-Serkal has announced his intention to run for the Presidency of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as he looks to replace Mohamed Bin Hammam, who was banned from all football activities by FIFA after being found guilty of attempting to bribe Caribbean officials.
Bin Hammam had hoped to retain the post and has filed an appeal with FIFA, and should that fail he plans to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
al-Serkal, the current vice President of the AFC, is from the United Arab Emirates, and it looks as though the Presidential post will be contested next May if Bin Hammam’s ban remains in place.
“Now is the opportunity, following FIFA’s decision not to allow Mohamed Bin Hammam to carry on his sporting duties, and for me to preside over the Asian confederation to help Asian football and bring more to the table, because I feel I have more to offer Asian football as a president,” al-Serkal told Sports News Television.
“We have to be frank, corruption, it’s among players, it’s among referees, it’s among also officials.
“So we need to take a stand against this, we have really to work hard and work harshly against those who are corrupt.
“We don’t need them in our world of football.”
al-Serkal will be confident of taking Bin Hammam’s place, having helped to put in place a professional league in his home country.
His rhetoric should chime well with FIFA, who have been heavily involved in trying to clean up their image as well as tackling the growing problem of match fixing through betting rings in a number of countries.
The former Asian chief was found guilty of offering $40,000 (£24,000/€27,000) in bribes to Caribbean Football Union (CFU) members at a meeting to vote for him against incumbent Sepp Blatter.
CONCACAF power broker Jack Warner was also suspended, and subsequently resigned, over the issue, whilst a number of other officials are facing sanctions from FIFA.
Since the Qatari was suspended from his duties, China’s Zhang Jilong has been the acting President of the AFC.
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