Bin Hammam to run for FIFA presidency

Asia’s football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam said yesterday he would challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency in June, setting the stage for a bitter tussle over the game’s most powerful job.

Bin Hammam, the president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said he decided to stand against 75-year-old Blatter, who has been the FIFA president for 13 years, after careful consideration.

“Today after careful study, consideration... armed with my love for football I have decided to contest the upcoming FIFA presidential elections scheduled for June 2011,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

“I have the will to serve people and I always said competition and change is good for anybody.”

The Qatari has been AFC president since 2002 and is now into his third and final term.

His tilt at football’s top job follows a corruption scandal that tainted FIFA’s reputation, after its executives allegedly sold crucial votes during bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

When asked about his chances of unseating Blatter, Bin Hammam said the time had come for a new face in FIFA.

“My chances are 50-50,” the 61-year-old said.

“Blatter is an experienced person, he has made significant contribution to football worldwide but I believe there is a time limit for everything. There is now a time for a new face and a new heir,” he said.

“I hope Asia will be united behind me and I hope there will be support from other confederations,” he added.

That support is not guaranteed – in 2009, there were moves to oust him from his FIFA executive committee seat amid complaints of his “autocratic” style after he upset several powerful factions of the regional football body.

Bin Hammam reached out to member associations by proposing to double their grants to $500,000.

He also unveiled plans to democratise FIFA and make the governing body more transparent.

Bin Hammam pledged to expand FIFA’s decision-making process and introduce reforms for a “more fair distribution of revenue and increased transparency”, if he won the presidency.

In another departure from the current regime, Bin Hammam said that he will sanction the use of video technology to help referees make tight decisions.