Monday, January 12, 2015

Full 90: Prince Ali: FIFA’s Last Hope at Salvation


This week it was announced that FIFA vice president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein will challenge Sepp Blatter during the governing body’s presidential election on May 29th. FIFA has been infested with controversy and corruption, especially with respect to the Qatar and Russia World Cup bids.


Prince Ali would bring forth a fresh regime to soccer’s world governing body. This election, Blatter is seeking an unprecedented fifth term, dating back to 2002, unopposed. At 39 years of age, the Jordanian looks to revive the FIFA through reinstating structure and morality to the international governing body.

If any individual is to defeat Blatter during the election it is Prince Ali. Prince Ali has the experience and the background to head the most scrutinized sports governing body. He has served as the FIFA vice president of Asia since 2011 in addition to serving as head of Jordan’s Football Association, and a founder of the West Asian Football Federation.

Prince Ali’s stance on the future of FIFA is gaining traction following this week’s announcement. Above all, the prince wants to revert FIFA from a period of despair back to its roots of the sport. He believes this can be done through a model of ethics, transparency, and good governance.


As the world’s largest member organization with 209 members, Prince Ali’s quest to garner support member federations is steep. Already Africa’s 54 members have voiced support for Blatter while Europe will surely opt not to, meaning Ali will need to focus his campaign efforts primarily on Asia, North and South Americas.  



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