Kuwait Football Association chief Sheikh Ahmad Al Sabah said Wednesday the image of Asian football had been badly damaged by the controversy over Mohamed bin Hammam's rule. But the sheikh, who is also president of the Olympic Council of Asia, played down fears that the Asian Football Confederation has been irrevocably hurt.
"At the moment Asia is divided, it is no longer united," he said. "That has done a lot of damage. Delegates from FIFA, from UEFA come to Asia and see this division. It is not good for Asian football and I'm surprised and sad that it has become like this. "(But) Asia will remain with 46 federations. Neither Bin Hammam or Sheikh Salman can break that."
Bahrain's Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa is challenging Bin Hammam for his seat on the powerful FIFA executive committee, but the campaign has been ugly, with claims of vote-buying. Sheikh Ahmad - who was targeted by Bin Hammam in the vote-buying claims, which he strenuously denied - said he hoped Friday's AFC Congress, where the FIFA vote will be held, would be fair.
"We hope that all members of the AFC behave in the spirit of the sport," he said. "I hope and wish and ask the AFC leadership to continue to provide a good environment and fair procedures so people respect any resolutions that are reached."
Despite backing Sheikh Salman, Sheikh Ahmad said he would respect whatever decision was made on Friday and continue to work with whoever is AFC president. The AFC banned Kuwait from voting at the Congress, saying it did not recognise the temporary committee that is running its football affairs after the country was suspended for political interference.
FIFA then ruled that Kuwait did have the right to vote although the AFC has yet to decide, with a decision to be made on Thursday. Four other countries - Laos, East Timor, Afghanistan and Mongolia - have also been denied the right to vote with former top AFC official Peter Velappan warning Tuesday they may quit the organisation if they are barred.
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