Chung considers bid for FIFA presidency

LONDON — Sepp Blatter could face a challenge to his FIFA presidency next year after vice president Chung Mong-joon said Thursday he was considering running for the top job. Blatter, president for the last 12 years, has confirmed he will stand for a fourth term in May's vote, but no challenger has yet emerged. While one potential opponent, Asian confederation president Mohamed bin Hammam, has ruled himself out, Chung used a high-profile appearance in London to suggest he is ready to stand. "I have not thought of doing so before seriously but now I will think about it," the 58-year-old South Korean told the Leaders in Football conference attended by five other FIFA executive committee members. "It's still too early to say there will be no contender next May. In order to keep a large organization like FIFA healthy you need healthy competition." The 74-year-old Blatter has been FIFA's president since Joao Havelange's 24-year reign ended in 1998 and won a fierce re-election fight in 2002 before being returned unopposed in 2007. Blatter has acknowledged that he is braced for a challenge from a candidate from Asia. "The world football family has to encourage competition, there are good people among existing FIFA executive committee members," Chung said. "We could have a candidate from Asia or other confederations. We better try to find good competition and good candidates." Chung suggested that it is time for an Asian to head world football due to the continent's increasing importance to the sport. "We sometimes see examples of national or regional agenda crowding out the global pursuit of the good of the game," Chung said. "Likewise it is important to ensure that FIFA's democracy shall not be reduced to a mere reflection of a shifting coalition of interest groups. "Football lives on nationalism but shows its greatness in the global context." Chung is also looking ahead to the 2015 presidential election. "It is likely there will be several candidates from South America, Asia and other Confederations as well," he said. As Chung was preparing to take on Blatter for the FIFA leadership, he faced a challenge at home Thursday for his position as its vice president representing the Asian Football Confederation. Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein, president of the Jordan Football Association, announced he intends to stand for election against Chung for the four-year term running from 2011-2015. "My goal is to restore the values of fair play — a key FIFA principle — and build a new equilibrium in which all Asian countries, whether big or small, rich or poor will benefit," the 34-year-old prince said in a statement. Prince Ali, whose elder sister Princess Haya is an International Olympic Committee member and leads equestrian's world governing body, also helped create the West Asian Football Federation which includes 13 teams including Iran, Iraq and Palestine. The vice presidency vote is scheduled for Jan. 6 at the AFC congress in Doha, Qatar, on the eve of the Asian Cup. – AP