Prince Ali to vie for FIFA presidency despite May loss

Prince Ali to vie for FIFA presidency despite May loss

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, beaten in May’s FIFA presidential election by Sepp Blatter, strongly hinted he will stand for the position again while speaking to delegates at the Soccerex business convention in Manchester, England, UK on Monday.

Ali, 39, lost by 133-73 votes to incumbent Blatter who then announced four days later he was standing down from the position after FIFA was plunged into its worst crisis following arrests of some of its officials and others two days before the election.

A fresh presidential election to find a successor to Blatter will be held in February and Ali looks set to become the third major candidate to enter after declarations from UEFA President Michel Platini of France and former FIFA executive committee member and Asian vice-president Chung Mong-joon of South Korea.

Asked by moderator David Davies if he was a candidate for the presidency of FIFA again, Ali replied:

“I think that right now we need a candidate who is forward thinking, who brings a new idea, who is not tainted by the past as well. And so what I will say for to you right now is just stayed tuned,” he said.

He then expanded on his theme throughout the interview when he stressed time and again the need for a new, transparent FIFA, open to change and widespread reform. He said he thought Sepp Blatter should have stepped down in the best interest of football.

“Seriously, anybody in any position of that nature should take responsibility for what happens in the organisation, there is no saying it is everybody else’s fault, you are responsible for what happens whether you like it or not. I think that honestly he (Sepp Blatter) should have stepped down a while ago and if he had the best interests of football, he would have done that,” Prince Ali said.

“I do believe that anything that happened within FIFA was known within the leadership of FIFA, there is no way that that is not the case. Even though sometimes it is said that you know people did things and they are individuals, they are not.I mean, there is an issue with that.”

He added that neither Platini, who supported him in May’s election, or Chung, who lost his executive committee seat as Asian vice-president when Ali beat him in an election in 2011, were ideal future candidates for the FIFA presidency.

“There is a difference between UEFA and between FIFA.

“FIFA is in a crisis right now and we need a new beginning and whether anybody likes it or not to be honest, Michel Platini’s introduction into football governance was as a protege of Sepp Blatter, that’s the reality,” he said.

“I’ve sat down with him honestly and talked to him and therefore I’ve listened to him, I’ve listened to his ideas and I think it’s a responsibility, having done what I have done, to at least guarantee that the future is different from the past and therefore I was not very encouraged.”

Ali confounded many observers by forcing a second round of voting in May’s election by denying Blatter an outright two-thirds winning margin in the first round.

He then conceded defeat before a second ballot took place, but again implied he was considering another bid for the presidency when Davies asked him if he could win the election without the formal, central backing of his own Asian confederation, whose leadership is backing Platini.

“If the elections are done correctly, cleanly and properly without interference, then I believe I can for sure,” he said.

With the vote taking place on Feb. 26, candidates with nominations from five national associations have to officially register their declarations by Oct. 26.

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