By John Duerden in Kuala Lumpur
April 29 – It is somewhat ironic for an election in which transparency and unity are the major issues that so much of the lobbying and campaigning has been played out almost entirely behind closed doors amid ever increasing divisions. But this is football politics, Asian style.
By Mark Baber
April 26 – Sri Lankan FA president Ranjith Rodrigo (pictured) met with FIFA president Sepp Blatter to discuss Sri Lanka’s reconstruction efforts after years of conflict and the 2004 tsunami.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 26 – Hassan Al-Thawadi, the face of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup campaign who has kept an unusually low media profile as he seeks a place on the top table at FIFA, has finally unveiled his reasons for being elected to its executive committee next week.
April 26 – The shockwaves from Jack Warner’s ‘Straight Talk’ public meeting last night have reached as far as under-fire AFC presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa.
By Mark Baber
April 25 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has been urged by two human rights organisations to step in and prevent Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa of Bahrain (pictured) from running next week for President of the Asian Football Confederation and a position on FIFA’s all-powerful executive committee.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
April 26 – The three West Asian contenders fighting to become the next head of Asian football have failed to reach a consensus on putting forward one sole candidate for next week’s presidential election but are set to hold further private talks in the build-up to the vote.
By John Duerden
April 25 – Worawi Makudi, one of four candidates in the running to become the president of the Asian Football Confederation in next Thursday’s election, has told Inside World Football that he has enough support to win.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
April 25 – A week ahead of the eagerly awaited election to choose a new leader to clean up Asian football, Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa is again having to fend off serious allegations of human rights abuses in his country.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
April 22 – The entire membership of Asian football has been officially warned against accepting bribes or backhanders in the build-up to the forthcoming presidential election. Less than two weeks before the eagerly awaited vote, InsideWorldFootball has been leaked a confidential letter that urges delegates to behave properly and not discredit their already corruption-tarnished confederation.
April 19 – Bahrain Football Association President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has issued the following statement regarding an article published by Insideworldfootball April 16.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 19 – Three Lebanese officials who were suddenly pulled out of an Asian Football Confederation game in Singapore for alleged match-fixing will go on trial in June, it was reported today.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 18 – The decision to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup has once again been called into question, this time by international trades unions across the world who have denounced the Gulf state’s record over the rights of migrant workers.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 18 – Kuwait has wasted no time in publicly announcing that it will back Asian Football Confederation presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain in next month’s election.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
April 17 – The frontrunner in the race to become the most powerful man in Asian football has ducked questions about his alleged implication in a vote-buying scandal and about widespread human rights abuses in his native Bahrain.
