With the FIFA presidential elections coming off on Friday in Zurich, Citi Sports editor Nathan Quao believes Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein is who FIFA needs to clear its name and chart a new path for the future.
Change, they say, is the only permanent thing is this world. I am sure death and taxes will have a lot to say about that but we all do get the picture.
But change is exactly what FIFA needs at this time and that is what all who will vote for its next President on Friday should think about.
The globe’s football administrator needs to move with the times and show that is willing to clear its name after months and months of revelations of corruption and bribery.
The first step to the fabled ‘new dawn’ frequently mentioned is the election of Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein as the new FIFA President.
The analysis of the current atmosphere places 50-year old Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa in the front seat.
Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, 50, Bahrain (Image credit: the Telegraph)
His affiliations with suspended FIFA boss Sepp Blatter mean that all the regions which love the Swiss man will be happy to give their vote to Salman and already, the Confederation of African Football has openly stated its intention to vote for the Bahranian.
However, if I were a candidate, all that will not appeal to me. I believe in principle but Sheikh Salman’s candidature does not have a lot of it.
I watched him and listened to him when he was in Accra earlier this year but I could not take anything away from his short interaction with the media.
A lack of time? Maybe but in seconds, impressions are made and opinions are formed and what he left me with was a strong urge to believe that FIFA’s future might not be rosy when is running the shop.
He allegedly ‘sniffed out’ footballers who took part in pro-democracy protests in his country in 2011 and detained them and he was also said to have stopped an investigation to corruption in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) which he currently heads.
Red flag alert there.
He has all this in his baggage and yet, he wants to be FIFA boss?
I cannot buy that.
He told me and other Ghanaian journalists that he wanted fair reportage on the FIFA scandal when it was obvious that some people had done wrong and sunk the image of the game we all love.
That is where I believe Prince Ali bin-Al Hussein takes the turn that is needed by FIFA.
His campaign has been based on a very simple premise: cleaning FIFA up and making it look beautiful again.
He has not hidden his intention to release FIFA investigator Michael Garcia’s report into corruption in relation to in the body.
Michael Garcia
Garcia said FIFA’s summary of his 430-page report was filled with errors and did not reflect the work he did. He resigned in protest saying that the organisation did not have the right leadership.
That, for me, is the clearest indication of the willingness to effect a change.
Prince Ali said in Accra (after Sheikh Salman spoke) that he believed “we (FIFA) should be open and transparent. We are the most popular sport and we cannot have a secret organisation running it.
If you clarify what is going on, people will have respect and faith in the organisation itself. We have to bring the respect back to FIFA.”
There we have it.
The words of a man who wants something to change about FIFA but whether he wins is dependent on how the 207 global football associations feel about the global body.
My thinking is that, a lot of things have been decided already. Regions have their preferred choices and they rarely deviate from these things.
FIFA Presidential Candidate Jerome Champagne (Image credit: the Telegraph)
FIFA Presidential Candidate Tokyo Sexwale, (Image credit: AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZJACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino is also contesting the FIFA Presidency
But as they vote, they should think about the prospect of choosing a man who is calling for voting in transparent booths.
It may not mean much to people but when you believe in principle, you will see that this is a true demonstration of the willingness to take FIFA far.
Sheikh Salman is a leading contender together with UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino but the candidate who comes across as the one FIFA needs is Prince Al bin Al-Hussein.
Follow me on @nathan_quao
The post QUAO: FIFA needs Prince Ali for the next step appeared first on Citi Sport.