FIFA presidential contender Prince Ali bin al Hussein has denounced a

possible attempt involving one of his rivals to breach the election

rules and called for an investigation.

“I am concerned that there has been an attempt to breach electoral

rules in the FIFA presidential election,” the Jordanian prince said in a

statement.

“I have written to the FIFA Ad Hoc Electoral Committee informing them of my concerns and asking them to examine the matter.”

It comes after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) signed a

memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Asian Football Confederation

(AFC) on Friday in Kigali to organise tournaments and programmes for

technical development.

The Asian Football Confederation is headed by Bahraini Sheikh Salman

bin Ebrahim al Khalifa, who is also running for the top job in world

football.

“I have always promoted cross-regional understanding,” Prince Ali

said. “However the timing of this MOU between the AFC and the CAF looks

like a blatant attempt to engineer a bloc vote.

“Africa’s proud football associations are not for sale and

development resources belonging to national football associations should

not be used by presidential candidates and confederation presidents for

political expediency,” he added.

“Now more than ever, this apparent exploitation of confederation

resources shows the world that the actions of individuals must stop

bringing FIFA into disrepute.”

CAF secretary general Hicham El Amrani told AFP on Friday that the

confederation would decide on February 5 which FIFA candidate it

supports.

The choice of the 54-strong CAF could be crucial in the FIFA vote, scheduled for February 26 in Zurich.

The African confederation enjoys the biggest membership ahead of UEFA

(53), Asia (46), Concacaf (35), Oceania (11) and South America (10).

Prince Ali, a former FIFA vice president who is the brother of

Jordan’s King Abdullah, is one of five candidates vying to take the helm

of FIFA.

He has condemned the “backroom deals” that he says are one of the biggest causes of FIFA’s long-standing troubles.

The other candidates are UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino,

South African business tycoon Tokyo Sexwale and former FIFA official

Jerome Champagne of France.

Suspended UEFA chief and former France international player Michel Platini pulled out of the race last week.

Platini and outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter were suspended for

eight years by FIFA’s ethics committee last month over a $2 million

payment made to Platini in 2011 for work carried out between 1999 and

2002.