Bin Hammam drops latest leadership hint
Reuters - Saturday 05 March 2011, 12:20
NEWPORT - Mohamed bin Hammam of
Qatar dropped a fresh hint on Saturday that he could challenge
Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency in June.
The Asian Football Confederation president has not yet
publicly announced whether he will stand for football's top job
but kept the pressure on Blatter on Saturday while the FIFA
president was in Wales for a meeting of the law-making
International Board.
Bin Hammam posted a message on his Twitter and Facebook
accounts, linked to his official website, that "competition is good for the
organisation (FIFA), whether the president or any other posts."
He added that "competition is the best way to make the
organisation vibrant and alive."
Blatter, 75 next week, has been president since succeeding
Joao Havelange in 1998 and is up for re-election for a fourth
four-year term.
The deadline to announce a challenge is March 31 and Bin
Hammam could score a notable double by becoming FIFA president
following Qatar's success in winning the right to stage the 2022
World Cup last year.
Bin Hammam told Reuters in January: "A change is a demand
for an improvement really.
"I cannot be 100 percent frank with you but I think FIFA
needs lot of improvement. I think there is a scope of work I can
do, there is something I can present and do for international
football."
One area of doubt for Bin Hammam is that a number of
associations in his Asian confederation voted for Prince Ali of
Jordan to become a FIFA vice-president in January, with Prince
Ali believed to have Blatter's backing.
The countries that voted for Prince Ali have said they would
support Blatter in any challenge to his leadership.