Prince Ali bin al-Hussein Must Run for FIFA President

Prince Ali bin al-Hussein FIFA Election
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Run Ali, run! With six months left until the emergency FIFA election to replace Sepp Blatter (should he actually step down), the man who took the incumbent closest to defeat is still uncertain about running. Prince Ali bin al-Hussein said at a press conference today that FIFA need a new leader, but he isn’t ready to say it should be him.

He told reporters, “We need a candidate who is forward-thinking, who brings a new idea [sic], who is not tainted by the past as well.”

But when asked if that meant he would run, his only answer was, “stay tuned.”

It is easy to dismiss the prince of Jordan’s chances in the face of Michel Platini‘s candidacy. Platini has a lot going for him, including a great soccer career and years in charge of the most powerful conference in the sport, Europe’s UEFA. That has led to big FA’s like England’s already endorsing him. Odds are he will have the job on the first round of voting, even if he’s the wrong man for it.

Platini has been no saint in his time in the FIFA hierarchy. He supported the controversial World Cup appointments to Russia and Qatar. There are rumors that Vladimir Putin sent him a rather nice Picasso to show his appreciation.

His soccer decisions have been just as bad. Financial fair-play rules have essentially extended the distance between the old money big clubs and everyone else, despite claiming to do the opposite. He’s also done little to address issues of racism in Russia and other nations.

But of course, most criminal of all, Platini is very close with the man held most responsible for the mess FIFA is in today, Mr. Blatter himself. They were incredibly chummy until recently when it became clear Blatter was sinking, making Platini not just sleazy by affiliation, but sleazy by disloyalty.

In contrast, Prince Ali lacks the soccer pedigree — he runs Jordan’s FA because his brother happens to be king — but he makes up for it with at least a decent level of ethics. He was responsible for banning the hijab for women soccer players in the Middle East. He was one of the most vocal FIFA members demanding the release of the Garcia Report, an internal investigation which investigated the alleged corruption surrounding the Russia and Qatar World Cup bids. Platini also supported publication, although weeks later than Ali and with the awkward proviso that its release must not go against the FIFA code of ethics (a laughable non-sequitur if ever there was one).

Ali is not a perfect candidate either. He supports Russia and Qatar keeping the World Cup (despite the likely ugly truths revealed in the Garcia Report). With Qatar as part of his constituency as head of the West Asian Football Federation, it’s hard to see that opinion changing or much pressure being put on anything but cosmetic reform. He’s been largely silent on the serious ethical issues outside of sport that might disqualify the next two hosts, such as Russia’s increasing hostility to the world and to dissidents, and Qatar’s migrant worker conditions.

But at the moment, he’s the best we’ve got. Ali is much more likely not to be tainted by long-term corruption in the organization, and he is as much of a qualified outsider as we’ve seen. Luis Figo ran earlier this year for the presidency, but he doesn’t have experience running such a massive bureaucracy. Real change to FIFA requires navigating through a rather tricky Catch-22 — an outsider not too outside who he can win votes and steady the organization all while proving he’s clean of the entanglements that unsettled things in the first place. At the moment, Ali is the only candidate who fits that description.

Perhaps someone better will jump in before February. But if not — if it comes down to Ali or Platini — the choice should be obvious. They may both be wrong about everything, but only one of them can be trusted to be honest about it.

Seth Libby is a soccer writer for www.RantSports.com. Like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @sethlibbywrites.

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