Sadly, the AFC presidential and FIFA Executive Committee elections in Asia promise to deliver another battle-field of smear and grime. Some of the protagonists are set to disappear into their self-made trenches of libel and slander, while one (or two) others are quietly watching from the side-lines at present, but ready to hit the unsuspecting contenders at the opportune moment.
Sri Lankan Vernon Manilal Fernando has been eliminated from proceedings. Temporarily, they say. Conveniently, he was ousted by FIFA’s corruption Czar right at the beginning of a campaign season that promises to display similar ‘dirt-wars’ to those witnessed in 2009 when it was “only” a fight for a FIFA ExCo seat rather than a full blown assault on the top of the mountain.