FOUL PLAY BY AFC

The Kuwaitis were told they would be excluded from voting in Friday’s AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur because the confederation did not recognise the temporary committee formed to run the sport's affairs in the country.

Five other nations -- Afghanistan, Brunei, Laos, East Timor and Mongolia -- were also barred as a result of not having played in enough of the confederation's competitions over the last two years.

AFC insiders said Kuwait were allowed to vote at the last AFC Congress and this sudden change to bar them smacks of “sporting foul play”.

“Kuwait are being penalised because they’re campaigning for Sheikh Salman Ebrahim Al-Kalifah of Bahrain (who is attempting to unseat the incumbent Mohamed bin Hammam, who is also the AFC president, for the FIFA Executive Committee seat),” said a senior official, who declined to be named.

“If there was no change in the Kuwait FA’s status and they were given the nod to vote the last time around, why are they now suddenly ruled out?

“Five other countries, who appeared to be opposing Hammam this time around, were also barred. This smacks of sporting foul play.”

The AFC remained mum on the issue despite FIFA (the world controlling body) last week allowing Kuwait to partake in the AFC Congress.

AFC general secretary Alex Soosay today declined to comment on the Kuwait matter.

Over the next few days, Kuwait are looking towards a “fair play” compromise by the AFC management before Friday’s meeting.


Kuwait FA vice-president Faisal A. Al-Dakheel said in a recent faxed statement they were happy with FIFA's decisions in dispelling claims by the AFC Ad-Hoc Legal Committee that Kuwait were not eligible to vote by virtue of being run by an interim body.

"FIFA's letter expressly confirmed that the Kuwait FA would be able to exercise its right to vote at the AFC Congress,” he said.

"The Kuwait FA president, together with other members of the executive committee will attend the Congress and vote to designate an AFC member to the FIFA Executive Committee.”

Kuwait have also made an official complaint to FIFA against Hammam and Australian broadcaster Les Murray, a member of FIFA's Ethics Committee, for “spreading defamatory statements tarnishing the election process”.

The heightened atmosphere to Friday’s elections has been marred by bitter accusations with vote-buying allegations.

Hammam, 49, a Qatari businessman, has been annoyed that Sheikh Salman, 43, a member of the Bahraini royal family, has drawn support from the Kuwait-based Olympic Council of Asia, the East Asian Football Federation and former AFC general secretary Peter Velappan.

Hammam has further raised the stakes: He said he would step down as AFC president if he loses Friday’s elections, despite his term running until 2011.
Sheikh Salman, who is also the Bahrain FA president, told the International Herald Tribune earlier this week: “We expected some dirty tricks in this campaign, but I never expected anything this low.”


“I have tried to challenge Bin Hammam on his record and on his style of leadership. He chose to make it personal, to try to destroy my reputation. I imagine he is desperate.”


Sheikh Salman and Hammam have each spent their working lives in major sports administration roles in the Gulf. To be endorsed as one of the four Asian representatives on FIFA’s all-powerful executive panel, they require a two-thirds majority of the 46 member associations on Friday.