UEFA President Michel Platini (centre) greets Vice-President of FIFA for Asia, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, at Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, yesterday.
BY RIZWAN REHMAT
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: European governing body UEFA is waiting for Asia to elect its new chief today so the two continents could carry out developmental programmes as planned, former French great Michel Platini said yesterday.
Platini, who is the chief of UEFA since 2007, was speaking to a scrum of reporters in the Malaysian capital where the 47-member Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will elect its new head today.
“We are eager to cooperate with AFC so that the game we all love moves forward in Asia,” Platini said after being surrounded by reporters for an impromptu interview.
“As chief of UEFA, I can guarantee that we would be working together for the development of the sport,” the former French captain added.
Platini, 57, later confirmed that UEFA and AFC had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop the sport in the world’s most populous continent.
“We are waiting for the election of the new President so we can implement those plans,” Platini said in French. Today at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, AFC family will elect its new president for the next two years.
In what is being considered a ‘fireworks’ show, UAE’s Yousuf Al Serkal, Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain and Thailand’s Worawi Makudi are the three in the election race.
When asked who he was supporting, Platini smartly dodged the query, saying: “I can’t answer that. I am here as an observer. I was here a few years ago for a similar session. It is a normal situation for officials of football bodies to be present for such occasions.”
Moments prior to his impromptu interview, FIFA President Sepp Blatter arrived at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which is a beehive of non-stop activity in the lobby of the five-star facility.
Barely half an hour earlier, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, a FIFA Vice-President for Asia, landed with his entourage for today’s election.
Sheikh Ahmed Al Fahad Al Sabah, the Olympic Council of Asia chief who is supporting Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman in today’s election, was seen having his pictures taken with media people at the hotel lobby.
Platini refused to answer questions about his intention to run for FIFA presidency in 2015, offering a definite “no comment’.
As for his relationship with Blatter, Platini said that their relationship ‘was very good and based on mutual respect’.
When pressed on Serkel’s allegation that Sheikh Salman was getting undue support from outside the AFC corridors, Platini said if a candidate had objections of any kind, he should present proof to FIFA and present a case.
While talking to international media, Platini said AFC needed to come clean and make a fresh start after the elections today.
He said after today’s election, he would quickly move to help Asia develop the sport in the region.
When his attention was brought the possibility of Bayern Munich joining Dortmund in the Champions League final to be played at Wembley later this month, Platini said: “If there are two German clubs in the final, then it would be the first time that I would be handing over the Champions League trophy to a German side (if Barcelona is knocked out by Bayern on Wednesday night).”
The former Juventus, Nancy and Saint-Etienne player, added: “I have been president for almost six years and I don’t remember a German side winning the Champions League title in my time (as chief of UEFA).”
THE PENINSULA
