March 29 – Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa will govern Asian football for another four years after his final challenger for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) presidency, Qatar’s Saoud Al Mohannadi, withdrew his candidacy.
Just like UEFA’s Aleksander Ceferin and, this coming June, FIFA’s Gianni Infantino, Sheikh Salman will have the field all to himself and stand unopposed at next week’s regional election. Yesterday Concacaf’s Victor Montagliani was returned for a second term at his confederation’s congress in Las Vegas.
Al Mohannadi pulled out and announced his support for Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman just a week after the UAE’s Mohammad Khalfan Al Romaithi also withdrew.
“I, personally, and the Qatar Football Association, will continue to support Sheikh Salman in the role of AFC president,” Al Mohannadi said in a statement posted on the Qatar Football Association’s website.
“We are fully confident he will guide Asia as one unit in all forthcoming matters.”
Al Mohannadi only entered the race as a geo-political counterweight against the Saudi Arabia/UAE political alignment and his withdrawal had been widely expected after the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) announced its “unanimous support” for the current status quo.
CAFA represents six Central Asian Member Associations – Afghanistan, IR Iran, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and made its announcement after the ASEAN regional body did the same.
The situation means Sheikh Salman, who in 2016 unsuccessfully stood against Infantino for FIFA president, will now head the AFC for at least a decade having been first elected in 2013.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1713544174labto1713544174ofdlr1713544174owedi1713544174sni@w1713544174ahsra1713544174w.wer1713544174dna1713544174
