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A FIFA worthy of the world’s game is the motto, the manifesto of the youngest and most idealistic candidate amongst the contenders to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA President. Unassuming and modest, the 39-year-old Jordanian Prince, Ali bin Hussein appears like an Anna Hazare/Jaiprakash Narayan type of figure in the murky world of sports politics.
Whilst talking to a select group of media personnel before the AFC annual awards ceremony in Delhi, the suave and soft-spoken Prince Ali revealed his blueprint for reforms within FIFA. It was refreshing to hear a candidate openly admit that that there was a loss of faith in FIFA and many reforms are needed to restore its credibility. He also stated that he would remain a contender for the presidential elections on 26 February 2016 and would not withdraw or compromise with any other candidate.
He categorically said that he was against the idea of voting in blocs. He said, “The election is a matter of belief for every national Football Federation.” Whilst in Delhi he is going to meet the President of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), Mr. Praful Patel to try and secure India’s vote.
Securing the AIFF vote
The AIFF vote has fluctuated. Some months ago they appeared to be backing Michel Platini, the UEFA President. As Platini is out of the fray now, it appeared from Mr. Patel’s speeches that the AIFF would support the other candidate from Asia, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, who is also the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president. So the young Prince Ali has a herculean task to try and convince the AIFF to switch loyalties.
Prince Ali was not afraid of having two candidates from Asia. He said his campaign is based on reform within FIFA and he hoped to muster support from countries from every confederation. He is confident of getting votes from South America (CONMEBOL) and the Central and North American region (CONCACAF) as well as from Asia, Africa, Oceania and Europe.
Significance of contest against Blatter in May 2015
Prince Ali is a young but courageous and determined man. This was evident as he contested against a behemoth like Sepp Blatter in the elections on 29 May 2015. His manifesto even then was to restore people’s confidence in the organization by carrying out drastic reforms and transparency in financial dealings.
His candidature based on promise of reforms did click as he got an unexpected 73 votes, which he explained were from countries all over the world and not just from any one region. His moral victory was that he prevented Blatter from sweeping to a clear first-round win by securing at least 140 votes (two-thirds) of the 209 votes.
Blatter secured 133 votes and Prince Ali made Blatter realize in May 2015 that his grip on FIFA was declining. This led to the 79-year-old Blatter announcing his departure within a few days and hence the new election in February 2016.
Prince Ali’s manifesto
The crux of Prince Ali’s campaign is based on reforms, which primarily focus on future bids for the prestigious World Cup football tournament. He said that he wants a professional group to carefully examine the bids, preparation of stadia, transport facilities and other infrastructure of every contender for future World Cups.
Prince Ali wants the detailed report of the professional committee placed either before the Executive Committee or FIFA Congress before deciding on the host nation. He says the bid should be decided on professional expertise and not on regional or political considerations.
Unlike Blatter, who became FIFA President for five terms, Prince Ali said one of the reforms he favours is that nobody should hold any office in FIFA for more than two terms. He said that age is not a bar in contesting elections, but there should be a cooling off period for each post. In this way, he felt that it would give everybody a chance to contest for the coveted post of FIFA president and would prevent granting of favours.
Double World Cup bid a mistake
Prince Ali admitted that the double bid when both Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) were awarded the World Cups was a mistake. He supports the switching of the 2022 World Cup to the winter months but categorically said that human rights and worker’s rights situation in Qatar must improve.
Prince Ali said that even as an Asian he will be against Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup if human rights and workers’ rights situation in that country are not given top priority.
On I-League and ISL
In 2014, the secretary-general of FIFA, Jerome Valcke on a visit to India had stated that FIFA recognized the I-League as the National league of India but had no objections to the Indian Super League (ISL) continuing as it was popularizing the game within the country. Prince Ali did not offer any comments on this debate or the proposed merger of the I-League and ISL but said that the AIFF should take a decision based on what is best for Indian football players.
He, however, promised full support to the AIFF for staging the U-17 World Cup in 2017 (expected dates October 1-23). He also praised the efforts of organizations like Magic Bus and others who are using football for social responsibility and to wean people away from crime and drugs.
European domination of FIFA
Of the eight presidents in FIFA’s 111-year history, seven have been from Europe. However, in the 2016 FIFA presidency race, the votes of UEFA nations could get divided as there are two European candidates in the fray, the multi-lingual 45-year-old Swiss lawyer Gianni Infantino, General secretary of UEFA since 2009 and Jerome Champagne, a former deputy secretary general of FIFA.
As expected the contest for FIFA presidency involves a lot of politicking. After Platini got suspended, many European nations started praising Infantino’s expertise. Europe will want to maintain its stranglehold over FIFA and so Infantino could be the dark horse as Platini’s bid has got jettisoned because of corruption charges.
Prince Ali is not worried about the European candidates as he feels he has enough support from some European nations. He feels that if the FIFA Ethics Committee ensures a free and fair election next year, it is time for Asia to take charge.
