Prince Ali announces second bid for FIFA presidency
Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein announced on Wednesday he will run - again - in FIFA’s presidential elections in February, when its embattled head, Sepp Blatter, is expected to step down.
On making his announcement in his country’s capital Amman, Prince Ali will now join Michel Platini, the president of UEFA, European football governing board, and the South Korean billionaire and former Asian football vice president, Chung Mong-Chun, as a contender to the top seat at the world football body.
“We must overcome deep-seated corruption but I was not brought up to walk away from a tough fight. This is about right and wrong,” Prince Ali said.
If he were elected, the Jordanian prince said he would transfer some of the organisation’s decision-making powers away from its headquarters in Zurich and toward national football associations.
The 39-year-old was the sole opponent to Blatter when the Swiss won his fifth term at FIFA’s congress in May, only days after several FIFA officials were arrested as part of a corruption probe.
It is yet to been seen where the latest contender will find his support prior to next year’s vote, as his strongest backing in May came from UEFA, and its president, Platini.
Earlier this week at the Soccerex conference in Manchester, Prince Ali commented that Platini was a Blatter “protégé”.
The 79-year-old Blatter announced the new February election after he said he would resign amid corruption investigations being conducted by the United States and Switzerland.
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