Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed Bin Hammam's position on the FIFA executive committee could be in jeopardy after 19 AFC countries backed rival Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.Bin Hammam's tenure on the committee comes to an end in two months' time, with Al Khalifa looking to replace the Qatari as one of the region's four representatives.
More worryingly for Bin Hammam, the action will also be construed as a referendum on his six-and-a-half-year presidency of the AFC, with the rebel countries unhappy at the 59-year-old's proposal of a 12-year marketing deal with World Sport Group as well as moving the AFC headquarters from their current home in Malaysia.
The decision to back Al Khalifa was taken following a series of meetings at the Olympic Council of Asia Sports Congress in Kuwait.
"We are happy to have the opportunity to meet in Kuwait here and come up with the decision," said East Asian Football Federation secretary general Takeo Okada.
"We want to make the change because of the mismanagement at the AFC and hope our move can increase the prosperity and solidarity of the AFC."
Al Khalifa launched a scathing attack on Bin Hammam's AFC presidency.
"At the end of the day, people will judge you on what you did in the past, especially six years in office as president," he said.
"He has had his time but if you don't deliver then I think your time is up. So far, we have heard nothing new from his office in the past six years."
The Bahraini added: "We have discussed a lot of things in a friendly atmosphere.
"The attendants confirmed their support for me in the next elections. They showed their clear intention to support me, while other countries confirmed their support but they didn't attend the meeting.
"The officials in the meeting took the green light from their national associations. These officials showed their objections to the current decisions of the AFC, including the marketing plan until 2020 and the decision of moving the headquarters from Malaysia."
Al Khalifa also promised to improve relations across the region if elected as well as pressing FIFA for more help to develop the game in the region.
"During Bin Hammam's reign, we saw a lot of conflicts between the Asian countries and this affected the development of Asian football," he continued.
"Therefore, I will try my best to clear all the borders between the Asian countries and support the national associations.
"The AFC is not getting a lot of support from FIFA like the other Confederations. As the AFC is not getting enough support, the national associations will not eventually get the necessary support for their continuity."
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