Bin Hammam confirms candidacy for FIFA Presidency

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohamed Bin Hammam has announced that he is to challenge Sepp Blatter for the Presidency of world football governing body FIFA.

In a press conference in Malaysia today (Friday 18th March), the 61-year-old Qatari announced his a campaign to try to end the 13-year reign of Blatter

Bin Hammam has outlined his policy manifesto by previously saying "I would call for more transparency in FIFA, to widen the decision-making base and bodies within FIFA. I'd engage stakeholders more and give them a real platform to express their wishes. We should respect the clubs and it is for the clubs also to respect the member associations."

Sources close to Bin Hammam say he is convinced he can beat Blatter after spending the last two months weighing up possible support among the 208 national associations who make up FIFA.

Bin Hammam's announcement follows months of speculation on his potential candicacy.

The election will take place in Zurich on 1st June and Bin Hammam will travel around the world in the 75 days between now and then trying to attract support.

His first trip will be to Thailand, directly after the scheduled news conference, and he will then travel to Paris for next week's UEFA Congress.

One of the key countries he will target is China, which has long been a supporter of Blatter and which wields much influence in football, especially in Asia.

The European countries which make up UEFA are likely to be split between Blatter and Bin Hammam, as are the African nations.

Bin Hammam has a strong relationship with South America after he won their backing for Qatar's 2022 FIFA World Cup bid but even inside Asia, his own confederation, he cannot be sure of universal support.

Blatter has not had a challenger since 2002 when he beat Cameroon's Issa Hayatou in a landslide victory by 139 votes to 56.

Bin Hammam, once a loyal Blatter ally and a shrewd tactician and empire-builder, is likely to prove a much tougher opponent.

Blatter has already embarked on a campaign tour himself and has been in Bin Hammam's Asian heartland visiting Burma, East Timor and Laos this week.

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