Prince Ali says FIFA needs to speed up reforms
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[October 24, 2016]
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi
AMMAN (Reuters) - Former FIFA
presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan is
concerned about the pace of reform in world soccer's governing body
and says new president Gianni Infantino has "no time to lose" in
bringing transparency to the organization.
Infantino was elected in February with the task of leading FIFA into
calmer waters after a series of corruption scandals plunged the
governing body into its worst crisis.
Prince Ali told Reuters in an interview that Infantino should focus
on implementing reforms rather than issues such as proposals to
expand the World Cup.
"I can only speculate as a new president he first has to look at his
own administration and see what's going on in there," he told
Reuters in Jordan, which is currently hosting the Women's Under-17
World Cup.
The tournament is the first FIFA organized female World Cup in the
Middle East and is considered a significant milestone for women in
the region, long constrained by cultural and religious conservatism.
"Everybody is looking at FIFA and the direction it is going and
again it's critical time, there no time to lose."
Soccer's global governing body is attempting to recover from the
worst graft scandal in its history which has seen 42 people,
including former FIFA executive committee members, indicted in the
United States since May last year.
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Criminal investigations are also under way in Switzerland, where
FIFA has its headquarters.
An investigation was also opened into FIFA's decision to award the
2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar, a small,
wealthy desert country with no real soccer tradition.
Prince Ali said that as someone who had "stuck to my guns in terms
of really supporting football and having a clean organization", he
knew how urgent it was to speed up investigations and tackle
improper business practices.
"You really need to have a clean FIFA to be able to trickle down to
our national associations" said Prince Ali, highlighting ongoing
problems such as matchfixing.
".. the reality is putting aside the big ideas in the World Cup, the
real issue is the organization and cleaning it up for me I wish it
will be more streamlined, more open and that's what I am hoping will
take place," he added.
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![](../images/102416pics/sports57.jpg)
Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, president of the Jordanian
Football Association, speaks during his interview with Reuters in
Amman, Jordan, October 23, 2016. Picture taken October 23, 2016. To
match Interview SOCCER-FIFA/PRINCE ALI REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed
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'SHAME ON THE GAME'
Prince Ali said the proposal to enlarge the World Cup could backfire
if not properly planned out, citing problems that faced in Brazil
and South Africa.
"When it comes to FIFA, at the moment there are other priorities
really ... my only concern is that it's maybe more political and
about pleasing people than what is best for the game," he said.
There are concerns that enlarging the World Cup beyond the current
32 teams would make tournaments less manageable and result in a drop
in quality.
Prince Ali again criticized FIFA's decision to dissolve its
anti-racism task force.
FIFA wrote to members in September to say it was disbanding the task
force set up by then boss Sepp Blatter in 2013, and declaring that
it had "completely fulfilled its temporary mission".
"To say the work is done and to move on is not the case ...racism
and discrimination is everywhere and really needs to be a staple
part of FIFA mission for the future," he added.
"I see racism and discrimination is prevalent in a lot of places and
that's a shame on the game and FIFA has a responsibility to tackle
it in every way it can ...
"Combating it is not about slogans it's about real work...," he
added.
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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