By Paul Nicholson
April 5 – As AFC delegates navigate their way through the cycling Tour de Langkawi which will pass through Kuala Lumpur city centre closing the roads leading to the Hotel Shangri-La venue for the 29th AFC Congress, they will do so in the near certainty that their own political peloton has ridden their current team leader, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, to a new four-year term.
At one point it didn’t look like it was going to be such a smooth ride with Salman facing fierce opposition from the UAE’s Mohamed Khalfan Al Rumaithi, who for all practical purposes was Saudi Arabia’s proxy for the presidency, and the less vehemently vitriolic opposition from Qatar’s Saoud Al-Mohannadi, who was put up as a political counter-weight to the UAE-Saudi alliance.
The politics of the fight for the presidency were evident in the skirmishes at the AFC Asian Cup in January in the UAE, but this wasn’t where the decisive election battles were won. While the UAE and their candidate worked over the electorate on their home soil, it was a political salvo fired too early.
Ultimately the Asian Cup was a football tournament and as such an important success for the AFC in terms of pulling off an expanded 24-team competition with a series of fascinating football match-ups showcasing teams on a bigger regional, and subsequently world stage, than had ever previously been achieved. Where else can you find teams from Yemen, Syria and Palestine competing equally without the threat of war, terrorism or oppression.
And anyone who has never been to an Iran vs Iraq match should check their calendars for the next potential match-up and start planning their travel as this is a fixture for the hardened football fan who lives for football matches that mean something.
It was even a geo-political triumph for the AFC on multiple levels despite the ugly crowd scenes at the UAE vs Qatar semi-final. One should perhaps condemn the fans and their shoe-pelting of the players but, ultimately, this was football, passion and pride colliding at the same geo-political and football moment. Volence aside – and no-one was hurt in the disturbances – isn’t this what football is about?
Certainly for Salman the Asian Cup was the time for his member nations and their teams to do their talking – on the pitch. The time for politics came later and it was a remarkable piece of statesmanship that saw Salman ultimately going into tomorrow’s election uncontested.
As AFC member nations individually and collectively began declaring for Salman post Asian Cup, so Salman took to the road, culminating in a decisive meeting in Saudi Arabia that saw the Saudis change backing from their vigorously supported man from the UAE to Salman. Days later Al Rumaithi pulled out of the election, declaring his own support for Salman who said all the right things in return. Soon Qatar’s Al Mohannadi had withdrawn as well.
It was a brilliantly and carefully constructed piece of politicking that saw all sides happy, none feeling left out, and the whole confederation breathing a huge sigh of relief – the geo-politics of the Middle East have the potential to cast a dark and potentially destructive shadow over Asian football.
It is also good for world football and for FIFA. With the world governing body still struggling for credibility – a strong case could be argued that it has become more of a ludicrous, self-serving and openly corrupt institution than it ever was before (just look at Africa and its FIFA-installed president) – Asia has demonstrated stability, unity, and a real progression along sustainable lines.
The election of Salman – not unlike the election of Concacaf’s president Victor Montagliani last week – will be, to a degree, a celebration of the new era they brought with them when first elected to fulfil the terms of their disgraced predecessors (Mohamed Bin Hamam and Jeffrey Webb).
AFC picks its representatives
Salman will not be the only AFC official elected In Kuala Lumpur.
Other positions up for election are five AFC vice presidents, a total of five AFC Female executive committee members, one of whom shall also be a FIFA Council member and a further nine AFC executive committee members.
AFC election candidates:
AFC President and FIFA Vice President (Term 2019 – 2023):
HE Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (Bahrain)
Mr. Saoud A.Aziz M A Al-Mohannadi (Qatar)
HE Mohamed Khalfan Matar Saeed Alromaithi (United Arab Emirates)
FIFA Council Members (Term 2019 – 2023)
Mr. Saoud A.Aziz M A Al- Mohannadi (Qatar) Mr. Khalid Awad A. Althebity (Saudi Arabia) Mr. Mariano V. Araneta, Jr. (Philippines)
Mr. Chung Mong Gyu (Korea Republic)
HE Du Zhaocai (China PR) Mr. Praful Patel (India)
Mr. Mehdi Taj (IR Iran)
Mr. Kohzo Tashima (Japan)
AFC Vice Presidents (Term 2019 – 2023)
(WEST ZONE)
Mr. Kosay bin Abdulaziz Al Fawaz (Saudi Arabia) Mr. Saoud A.Aziz M A Al- Mohannadi (Qatar)
Mr. Hachem Haidar (Lebanon)
(CENTRAL ZONE)
Mr. Semetei Sultanov (Kyrgyz Republic)
Mr. Mehdi Taj (IR Iran)
(SOUTH ZONE)
Mr. Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat (Pakistan) (ASEAN ZONE)
Dato’ Haji Hamidin bin Haji Mohd Amin (Malaysia) Dr. Tran Quoc Tuan (Vietnam)
Mr. Zaw Zaw (Myanmar)
(EAST ZONE)
Mr. Ganbaatar Amgalanbaatar (Mongolia) Mr. Chung Mong Gyu (Korea Republic) HE Du Zhaocai (China PR)
AFC Female Executive Committee Members (Term 2019 – 2023), one of whom shall also be a FIFA Council member (Term 2019 – 2023)
(WEST ZONE)
Ms. Susan R. A Alshalabi (Palestine)
(SOUTH ZONE)
Ms. Mahfuza Akhter Kiron (Bangladesh) Ms. Mariyam Mohamed (Maldives) (ASEAN ZONE)
Ms. Kanya Keomany (Laos)
(EAST ZONE)
Ms. Han Un Gyong (DPR Korea)
AFC Executive Committee members (Term 2019 – 2023) (WEST ZONE)
Mr. Abed-Alkhaliq Masoud Ahmed (Iraq)
Dr. Hamid Mohammed Ali Al-Shaibani (Yemen)
Mr. Luai Ibrahim A. Alsubaiey (Saudi Arabia)
H.E. Sheikh Salem Said Salem Al Wahaibi (Oman) H.E. Eng. Marwan Bin Ghalita (United Arab Emirates) Mr. Hachem Haidar (Lebanon)
(CENTRAL ZONE)
Mr. Sayed Ali Reza Aghazada (Afghanistan)
(SOUTH ZONE)
Mr. Anura De Silva (Sri Lanka)
Mr. Ugen Tsechup (Bhutan)
(ASEAN ZONE)
Dato’ Haji Hamidin bin Haji Mohd Amin (Malaysia) Mr. Lee Boon Aun Winston (Singapore)
Mr. Chris Nikou (Australia)
Dr. Tran Quoc Tuan (Vietnam)
(EAST ZONE)
Mr. Ganbaatar Amgalanbaatar (Mongolia)
Mr. Chung Mong Gyu (Korea Republic) Mr. Fok Kai Shan Eric (Hong Kong) Mr. Kohzo Tashima (Japan)
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1714003218labto1714003218ofdlr1714003218owedi1714003218sni@n1714003218osloh1714003218cin.l1714003218uap1714003218
