Chung Mong-Joon, the former FIFA Vice-President, today tweeted that his close friend and AFC President Mohamed Bin-Hammam is to challenge Sepp Blatter for the Presidency of FIFA in June.
“It seems he will challenge the FIFA Togel Hongkong presidential election in June,” wrote the Korean who was unseated by a Blatter loyalist Prince Ali Bin Hussein of Jordan at the AFC Congress in Doha in January.Blatter and friend.
Bin-Hammam recently said Blatter, in charge since 1998, had spent too long at FIFA – 35 years in total, and pinned the global complaints about the organisation onto the President’s back:
“Everybody is going to accuse us today as corrupted people, ” he said, “because maybe people see Mr Blatter has stayed a long time in FIFA.”
Blatter’s to-ing and fro-ing over the date of the 2022 World Cup , toying with the possibility of other Gulf nations co-hosting and his vocal backing of India and Australia for future tournaments have been judged to be political moves designed to split the Asian vote.
Bin Hammam set himself on collision course with Blatter since the President backed Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa in his ultimately failed attempt at unseating him at the AFC Congress in 2009.
The Qatari has until the 1st of April to formally announce his bid, but recent statements from both he and Blatter appear to confirm the inevitable.
The Cockerel has landed
Tottenham Hotspur have released an artist’s impression of their desired new 60,000-seat home on the site of London’s Olympic Stadium.
After it was initially thought Spurs were merely seeking leverage to persuade Haringey Council to approve their White Hart Lane redevelopment, the picture leaves no doubt that Stratford is their intended destination in 2012.
Chairman Daniel Levy is talking of East London as their one and only option right now as the postponed decision on the preferred bidder is due within a week.
West Ham have the support of most of the athletics community, including the IOC and 2012 chief Sebastian Coe, as well as the majority of Londoners polled, but Spurs’ greater financial clout seems to be edging ahead as the Legacy Committee pore over the economic promises. The call for more time to decide must be ominous for the Hammers – on paper they should have been crowned winners already because unlike Tottenham they had pledged to retain the running track.
While West Ham’s Vice Chairman Karren Brady invokes the Queen’s name and speaks of a “corporate crime” should Spurs triumph, she is equally aware that Spurs have stolen a march on the issue of athletics legacy: They are promising to develop Crystal Palace athletics stadium into a 25,000-seater open all year when West Ham will only leave the larger Olympic Stadium open for track and field for 20 days.
It is impossible to miss the Canary Wharf skyline lurking strategically above the stadium in the artist’s impression, a symbol of the big money Tottenham are hoping will carry them across the finish line.
(c) Sean O’Conor & Soccerphile
