Prince Ali wary of FIFA's intimidation culture

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FIFA Coins  Ali Bin Al Hussein has warned that FIFA has a 'culture of intimidation' in a news conference detailing his plans to replace Sepp Blatter as the governing body's president.

The Prince outlined his intention to stand in the race to succeed Blatter, joining Luis Figo and Michael van Praag in bidding to assume the position.

Speaking on Tuesday, Prince Ali said he hoped there would be no intimidation in the vote for the election and that confederations would be able to vote freely.

"There has, in the past, been a bit of a culture of intimidation, so the important thing is to achieve the nominations and I'm very proud that I have nominations from other parts of the world," he said.

"People around the world don't have confidence in the organisation and we need to return that confidence - they need to know that we're doing the right thing and working from the bottom up.

"In the next few months, confederations themselves are having elections and so I understand there is a little bit of intimidation.

"The important thing is the vote itself - it should be a secret ballot and I think in that case people will be comfortable to vote for who they think is best for football."

Prince Ali was also quizzed on the issue of term limits for presidents - with Blatter having held his position since 1998 despite contending with allegations of corruption over his tenure.

"Our congress decided there were no term limits or age limits - I have my own ideas," explained the 39-year-old.

"If I become president I shall make them clear but I don't think anybody should stay forever.

"We're here to serve the sport and I will lead by example."

Prince Ali was the first of the four men in the running for the FIFA presidency to set out his tentative approach as to how he would run football's world governing body if elected.

The current vice-president is looking to oust Blatter from the position and, after his campaign was launched in London on Tuesday, Press Association Sport's Mark Bryans looked at the five things that stood out from his press conference.

UP FOR DEBATE

Britain became accustomed to the tit-for-tat public debates in the run-up to the General Election in 2010.

And Prince Ali has called for a similar scenario for FIFA's presidential candidates. Pitting himself against current incumbent Blatter as well as Figo and Van Praag on a public stage so their vows and promises are heard by the world.

Whether Blatter, and the other candidates for that matter, would be keen remains to be seen but Prince Ali sees the debates as a way to garner more support for his own campaign.

One thing that is for certain is that Prince Ali has a warm public persona, as was witnessed as he answered questions from the world's media at his campaign launch.

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