The Guardian (so I only read them and the BBC, shoot me) have a report saying that Richard Scudamore and Peter Kenyon are tacitly backing Mohamed Bin Hammam’s bid for re-election in the AFC. Assuming that this is true, it’s not as simple as throwing their hat in the ring behind one candidate over the other.
Bin Hammam was one of the first people to speak out against the Premier League on their ‘globalisation’ efforts – including but not limited to their trips to the Far East and Game 39. He’s thawed on that position recently, presumably in face of being offered support by the Premier League and a greater share of the pie financially.
Bin Hammam is also one of the people most likely to stand for election for the FIFA presidency once Blatter is out (how that will happen is another story), and re-claiming the AFC post will be a key part in his bid to get control of FIFA one day. The Premier League and FIFA are hardly on friendly terms, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the English support a candidate now in exchange for promises of support in the future.
Will the Premier League play a role in selecting the future FIFA president? I would be more surprised if they didn’t.
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