Dubai: The path has essentially been cleared for Prince Ali Bin Hussein of Jordan to become the next president of Fifa following the world footballing bodies’ decision to suspend Michel Platini and Chung Mung-joo along with Sepp Blatter and Jerome Valcke on Thursday.
So far, only Platini and Chung had confirmed their candidacy for February’s presidential election alongside Prince Ali, with Platini and the Jordanian royal considered leading contenders in the battle to replace incumbent Blatter.
But after Thursday’s ruling by the Fifa ethics committee to provisionally suspend Platini for 90 days and Chung for six-years, Prince Ali’s odds have obviously shortened.
Each candidate can only confirm their running for presidency with the all-important backing of at least five member associations. The deadline for candidates to formally present their minimum of five nominations isn’t until October 26 however, meaning that we could still see a raft of last minute bids in the remaining weeks from those still considering whether to run. And Thursday’s ruling may well play a huge part in that decision-making process.
The list of potential candidates who have yet to confirm their bid for presidency is pretty extensive with the likes of former players Diego Maradona, Zico, Luis Figo and David Ginola, all making noises. However, the fact they have yet to confirm suggests they may not have the necessary backing, hence they aren’t yet considered serious options until all their cards are on the table.
Also in that list of unconfirmed candidates was Blatter and Valcke, two characters who we now know have since fallen by the wayside. But along with those more likelier names was David Gill, Michael van Praag and Shaikh Ahmad Al Sabah of Kuwait.
Shaikh Ahmad, if he formally confirms his candidacy, is considered another front runner along with Prince Ali, and with those two leading the way in the vacuum caused by Thursday’s ruling, it’s obviously a major boon for football in the Middle East.
It goes without saying that if the next president of Fifa hails from this region, we could see unprecedented levels of growth in the game locally. And could it also quell criticism surrounding the Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup?
Ironically it’s been alleged corruption that has seen Blatter and his cronies come a cropper, but will alleged corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids now be as vigorously scrutinised if the next president is from this region? In any case, it will be interesting to see how long Fifa can keep up this new and improved cleanlier image, and how transparent any potential Fifa president from this region may appear internationally.
With Platini out of the running there’s also re-jostling for support in Europe, the traditional home of Fifa presidents, and Gill and Van Praag seem to benefit most in that regard. But a movement east, as has been the case in all sport of late, with the Formula One calendar alone a case in point, it well be could well be time for a first Arab Fifa president.
UAE Football Association president Yousuf Al Sarkal was unavailable for comment on Thursday’s Fifa suspensions when contacted by Gulf News, as he was in Jeddah for last night’s second round 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia.
