Fifa presidential election: Prince Ali bin al-Hussein's team contacts police over vote approach 'that appeared to involve criminal activity'
An individual claimed to be able to secure the Jordanian the backing of 47 of the 209 votes in Friday's election
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Your support makes all the difference.The sole opposition candidate to Sepp Blatter in Fifa’s presidential election, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, has contacted the police after his campaign team was approached by an individual who claimed to be able to secure him the backing of 47 of the 209 votes in Friday’s election.
The prince’s team claims the individual also said he could provide information regarding Blatter’s financial activities, which, it said, “appeared to be illegally obtained”.
The person’s identity has not been revealed, but he is not a Fifa employee, nor does he have any formal connections to any of Fifa’s national federations.
“Our goal was not to create a campaign issue but to properly react to an approach made to us that appeared to involve criminal activity,” Prince Ali’s team said. “The campaign did not want to do anything that could jeopardise the police investigation.”
The prince’s team added the matter had been passed to Quest, a corporate intelligence firm based in the UK set up by Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who has led an inquiry into football corruption. It was Quest’s decision to inform the police, not Fifa’s own ethics committee.
“Because the claims made by the individual strongly suggested criminal acts, Quest referred the matter to the proper law enforcement authorities,” Prince Ali’s team said. “We did not engage the Fifa ethics committee because the individuals concerned were third parties who were not part of Fifa, nor were they national association representatives. Prince Ali’s campaign has not received any offers involving questionable behaviour or potential illegalities from Fifa member associations or individuals claiming to act on their behalf.”
Blatter is widely expected to win a fifth term, with the overwhelming backing of African, Latin American and Asian federations.
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