World football's governing body on Friday said five "banned" Asian football associations have the right to vote at the AFC's crucial upcoming Congress. It followed a letter from the associations to FIFA president Sepp Blatter urging him to intervene and supervise what they claimed would be an undemocratic Congress next month.
The letter outlining their concerns, including allegations of "threats expressed against some of us", was signed by senior officials from the FAs of Kuwait, Laos, East Timor, Afghanistan and Mongolia. All five associations had been told by the AFC that they could not vote on a challenge by Bahrain's Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa to AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam, whose place on FIFA's executive committee is up for grabs.
Both men claim to have the numbers to win the increasingly bitter battle for the seat on May 8, but with a two-thirds majority required the five votes could prove crucial. Marco Villiger, FIFA's director of legal affairs, said in his reply, obtained by AFP, that the associations appeared to meet all the necessary requirements.
"It is our duty to have answered your questions neutrally, objectively and in compliance with the FIFA statues and with mandatory Swiss association laws," he added. Four of the associations - Laos, East Timor, Afghanistan and Mongolia - had been told by the AFC they could not vote because they had not participated in at least three Asian competitions in the past two years.
FIFA ruled that they had, making clear that under-13 and under-14 competitions must also be considered. "Any other interpretation would be against the logical reading of the article (in the statutes)," said Villiger. As for Kuwait, they were informed by the AFC that it did not recognise the temporary committee that is currently running its football affairs and so were not eligible to vote.
But Villiger said the Kuwait Football Association was recognised by FIFA after a suspension it was under for political interference was provisionally lifted, and it had full voting rights. He added that "the Congress as the supreme authority of the AFC is the body to decide about voting rights". "Neither the (AFC) executive committee nor any other committee have the power to decide about such issues." The AFC had no immediate comment.
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