An astonishing power struggle is developing between two of FIFA's most senior figures, which could have implications for the future of world football.
Mohamed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has expressed his belief that South Korea'sChung Mong-Joon is masterminding a campaign to remove him from his FIFA seat.
Bin Hammam also claims that Chung, a FIFA vice-president, is targeting Sepp Blatter's position of FIFA president and is being backed by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
In an interview with PA Sport in Zurich, Bin Hamman said his challenger Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa from Bahrain was the figurehead of a scheme drawn up by Chung.
Bin Hammam said: "We are a democratic organisation and contesting for any post is the right of all our member associations.
"But in this case the initiative did not come from the contestant himself, the initiative came from Mr Chung and maybe some other members."
Bin Hammam confirmed he would consider standing as FIFA president - but only if Blatter decided to stand down at some point in the future - and said he believed Chung had ambitions of his own to unseat Blatter.
He added: "If I have something to offer to the world why not - but that cannot happen so long as Mr Blatter wants to remain in his seat. I am a strong supporter of his.
"But it's not only me who has the ambition or dream to be FIFA president. I believe part of the campaign against me by Chung is that he wants to be president of FIFA and that he wants to remove me from the FIFA seat, remove me from the president of AFC, so he can become a candidate after that for FIFA president.
"He was in FIFA before me and I challenge anyone to remember any initiatives that he has taken towards Asian interests, or that Asia benefited from him being on FIFA."
Bin Hammam also blames the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for helping orchestrate a campaign against him - but is confident of victory in the election on May 8.
He added: "It's Chung, who does have a lot of power, and the Olympic Council of Asia who have nothing to do with football, who are aggressively working.
"I have been told they are offering a lot of support, a lot of assistance, and have not been very successful."
There have been suggestions that as many as 19 of the 46 members of the AFC would vote against Bin Hammam but he is confident only a smaller minority will do so.
Bin Hammam confirmed he had proposed to the AFC's Congress that the Asian confederation president should automatically be given the FIFA vice-presidential seat currently occupied by Chung.
Bin Hammam also claims that Chung, a FIFA vice-president, is targeting Sepp Blatter's position of FIFA president and is being backed by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
In an interview with PA Sport in Zurich, Bin Hamman said his challenger Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa from Bahrain was the figurehead of a scheme drawn up by Chung.
Bin Hammam said: "We are a democratic organisation and contesting for any post is the right of all our member associations.
"But in this case the initiative did not come from the contestant himself, the initiative came from Mr Chung and maybe some other members."
Bin Hammam confirmed he would consider standing as FIFA president - but only if Blatter decided to stand down at some point in the future - and said he believed Chung had ambitions of his own to unseat Blatter.
He added: "If I have something to offer to the world why not - but that cannot happen so long as Mr Blatter wants to remain in his seat. I am a strong supporter of his.
"But it's not only me who has the ambition or dream to be FIFA president. I believe part of the campaign against me by Chung is that he wants to be president of FIFA and that he wants to remove me from the FIFA seat, remove me from the president of AFC, so he can become a candidate after that for FIFA president.
"He was in FIFA before me and I challenge anyone to remember any initiatives that he has taken towards Asian interests, or that Asia benefited from him being on FIFA."
Bin Hammam also blames the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for helping orchestrate a campaign against him - but is confident of victory in the election on May 8.
He added: "It's Chung, who does have a lot of power, and the Olympic Council of Asia who have nothing to do with football, who are aggressively working.
"I have been told they are offering a lot of support, a lot of assistance, and have not been very successful."
There have been suggestions that as many as 19 of the 46 members of the AFC would vote against Bin Hammam but he is confident only a smaller minority will do so.
Bin Hammam confirmed he had proposed to the AFC's Congress that the Asian confederation president should automatically be given the FIFA vice-presidential seat currently occupied by Chung.
Copyright (c) Press Association
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