16 Mar 2009(Mon)

March 13, 2009: Things are getting nasty behind the scenes of Asian football.

The president of the Asian Football Confederation, Mohamed Bin Hammam, is fighting furiously to retain his prized seat on the 24-strong FIFA Executive Committee when the AFC Congress takes place on May 8.

Hammam has held the seat since 1996, six years before he became AFC president, and has vowed to resign as AFC president if he loses his FIFA place to the president of the Bahrain Football Association, Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.

The 46 members of the AFC are now being wooed for their votes in the secret ballot, and Japan has come down firmly on the side of the 43-year-old Bahraini; to such an extent that Takeo Okada, general secretary of the East Asian Football Federation, read out to the media the four resolutions decided by a gathering of some 19 football associations in Kuwait on Thursday afternoon.

From the wealth of the West, notably Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, to the influence of the East, with Japan, China and South Korea, through Central Asia and South East Asia, the representatives did not hold back in their criticism of Hammam.

"From the vote of trust we gave him, I am very sorry to say we have created a dictator," Shaikh Salman said.

Peter Velappan, the popular former general secretary of the AFC, went further. "What a monster," he said of Hammam.

With so many high-profile princes, sheikhs and football leaders at the meeting, Hammam naturally knew of the gathering, and the next day the rumours were that he was using the Qatar Head of State's private jet to fly around Asia to try and lock up votes. He was in India at the time.

Shaikh Salman is campaigning under the slogan of "AFC – Asia For Change," as he feels the management style of Hammam has caused huge divisions within Asian football.  But all the time he stresses that he wants the FIFA ExCo seat, which Hammam has held unopposed since 1996, and has no interest in becoming AFC president.

Hammam's term of office as AFC president does not end until 2011, but he feels he could not remain in that position if he loses his FIFA ExCo seat to the Bahraini. Hammam desperately wants to be the next FIFA president after Sepp Blatter, but is under tremendous pressure within his own Asian continent and even within West Asia, his home ground.

There is no sign of a truce in sight, so the campaigning and the cash will continue flowing until May 8.

Football at the top – not a pretty sight.

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