Should The FA be wary of backing Prince Ali in the FIFA presidential race?

By Jamie Thomas

Earlier this week the Football Association threw a spanner in the works of Sepp Blatter’s bid to remain Fifa president as sources announced they would be backing one of his main rivals. It was reported on Wednesday that the FA are set to give Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein of Jordan one of the five nominations he needs to stand against Blatter in May’s presidential election.

This is the same FA that has been among the leading voices criticising the present Fifa regime. Prince Ali, a Fifa vice-president himself, has long been critical of the current administration as well, making him a prime candidate to earn the backing of the FA.

Whether or not the FA are supporting him because they believe in his vision of an ethical and transparent organisation, or because they want to put as many people as possible in a position to challenge Blatter (with Holland’s Michael van Praag already confirming he has the five Associations needed) remains to be seen. But it is a powerful move nonetheless.

The FA were too late in 2011 to stop Blatter being re-elected as they proposed a last-minute delaying of the vote, but they have obviously learned from their lesson, acting quickly and decisively by backing a challenger to Blatter.

The question is, could this backing spell bad news for David Gill, and in turn, the FA itself?

FA vice-chairman Gill is considered the favourite for a vice-president position at Fifa (ahead of Wales’ Trefor Lloyd Hughes) and is rumoured to have strong support behind him from the powers that be at Uefa. If Blatter has as much support as is resoundingly believed, then surely Gill and the FA will have to be wary of that in backing Prince Ali.

The odds are far and away in Blatter’s favour to remain in office and Gill is tipped for vice-presidency. Knowing that the FA’s relationship with Fifa is strained at best, backing Prince Ali against Blatter only distresses it further and could make it difficult for Gill to exert any real influence in the executive committee, working against the FA’s interests.

On the other hand, having Gill in there for four years, even with little impact under Blatter, would allow him to build relationships and strengthen his own case for a potential run at the top job in 2019. That is, if an 82-year-old Blatter finally steps down by then.

If in five months’ time we see Prince Ali as Fifa president, backed by the FA and underpinned by a vice-president, who was formerly an FA official, then the benefits to the FA could be huge and their voice could finally be heard in Fifa once more. However, the likelihood of that is so low that the FA is undoubtedly taking a sizeable gamble supporting a major critic of Blatter.

Pencil in these dates everyone: The Uefa congress is on March 24^th with the Fifa equivalent taking place on May 29^th. We’ll know then who is going to lead our game forward in the next four years.

Read more from Jamie Thomas here.
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