DPA/Berlin
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein has named restoring the credibility of the ruling football body FIFA a priority in his presidential campaign to topple incumbent Joseph Blatter.
Prince Ali has spoken of a “climate of intimidation” under Blatter’s 17-year rule during which FIFA has become very wealthy but has also been at the centre of various corruption allegations.
Blatter had initially planned to step down after his latest term but changed his mind last year and is now the favourite again in Friday’s vote.
The staunchest critics have come from Europe and its governing body UEFA, but UEFA president Michel Platini chose not to run against Blatter.
Instead, the 39-year-old Prince Ali was nominated by the likes of England but also his home country Jordan and the United States.
“The headlines should be about football, not about FIFA. FIFA exists to serve a sport which unites billions of people from all over the world,” he said in January when he announced his intentions.
Prince Ali has been president of the Jordanian football federation since 1999, of the West Asian football federation since 2000 and a FIFA vice-president for Asia since 2011 on a term that expires Friday.
Born December 23, 1975 in Ammann, he is the son of the late King Hussein and the late Queen Alia, who died in a helicopter crash in 1977.
His sister, Princess Haya, competed in equestrian events at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and is a former president of the ruling equestrian body FIL. His half-brother, Prince Nawaf Faisal Fahd Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, is a member of the International Olympic Committee.
Prince Ali was educated in Britain and the United States and attended Sandhurst military academy before joining his country’s armed forces.
Prince Ali is a big supporter of youth and women’s football, and played in leading role in FIFA lifting a ban on the hijab in women’s football.
He wants to restore a World Cup rotation scheme among the confederations and is not opposed to expanding the number of World Cup teams from the current 32.
