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Blatter ally slams bin Hammam FIFA presidency bid An ally of Fifa President Blatter ridicules Qatari bin Hammam's bid for the football body's presidency
A former top official of the Asian Football Confederation slammed Mohamed bin Hammam on Monday for challenging Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency, saying the organisation would be “doomed” if the Qatari wins. Peter Velappan, a Blatter ally who was the AFC's general secretary from 1978 to 2007, said bin Hammam's pledge to bring “new blood” into the leadership of world soccer was “the joke of the century.” The Malaysian's comments underscore bitter divisions that could increasingly become public following last week's announcement by bin Hammam, the current AFC president, that he would run to replace the 75-year-old Blatter. “FIFA will be doomed if Hammam became the president,” Velappan told The Associated Press. “It would be very detrimental.” Bin Hammam announced his candidacy on Friday, mounting the first serious challenge to the FIFA leader in nearly a decade. Velappan claimed bin Hammam had led the AFC like “an autocrat” since becoming president of the organization in 2002 and was insincere in his pledge to bring more democracy, transparency and integrity to FIFA. “These are the very things he has not done in AFC,” he said. “There is no democracy in AFC.” He added he believed bin Hammam would try to “buy up” support to win the June 1 vote in Zurich. “He is definitely an underdog but you can't rule out his influence,” Velappan said. Bin Hammam recently spearheaded Qatar's winning bid for the 2022 World Cup. The 61-year-old still needs the formality of being nominated by one of FIFA's 208 national federations to run for the presidency. In announcing his bid for president, bin Hammam said he would broaden FIFA's decision-making power and spread its wealth if elected. He proposed creating a new FIFA board to replace the existing executive committee, which some regard as concentrating power in too few hands. Blatter, who has been nominated for re-election by Somalia, has led FIFA for 13 years.
