AFP
Amman
FIFA vice president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein yesterday threw down the gauntlet to incumbent Sepp Blatter for the leadership of football’s world governing body.
The 39-year-old Jordanian prince said he would be a candidate against Blatter, 78, who will seek a fifth term, when FIFA holds a presidential vote on May 29.
Prince Ali, an ally of Blatter rival Michel Platini, the UEFA president, said he had been encouraged by other FIFA members to stand.
“I know Prince Ali well. He has complete legitimacy to occupy the highest responsibilities,” Platini told AFP.
“We are now going to wait for his proposals and his programme for the future of football,” the UEFA leader added.
The prince is guaranteed nearly all the 54 UEFA votes and must now aim to sway enough FIFA members from his Asia region and other confederations against Blatter to get 105 backers at the election.
The prince said his campaign would be based on getting FIFA away from “controversy”.
“I am seeking the presidency of FIFA because I believe it is time to shift the focus away from administrative controversy and back to sport.
 “This was not an easy decision. It came after careful consideration and many discussions with respected FIFA colleagues over the last few months,” Prince Ali said.
“The message I heard, over and over, was that it is time for a change.
“The world game deserves a world-class governing body - an International Federation that is a service organisation and a model of ethics, transparency and good governance.”
Prince Ali, a son of the late King Hussein of Jordan, was one of the most senior FIFA officials to call for the full publication of lawyer Michael Garcia’s report into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.
UEFA’s Platini and European federations have led calls for Blatter to keep an earlier promise to stand down when his fourth term ends.
But Blatter says he has a “mission” to finish.
Prince Ali is FIFA vice president for Asia, head of Jordan’s Football Association and founder of the West Asian Football Federation.
The prince will need five of FIFA’s 209 member federations to nominate him before a January 29 deadline. But UEFA’s backing should make this a formality.
He will step up lobbying for Asian support at a special Asian Football Confederation congress in Melbourne, Australia on Friday.
“FIFA exists to serve a sport which unites billions of people from all over the world, people of differing and divergent political, religious and social affiliations, who come together in their enjoyment of ‘the world’s game’,” the prince said.
The only other declared candidate in the race is Jerome Champagne, a French former FIFA official and diplomat.