Bin Hammam Inroads Into Africa Leaves Blatter Reeling in Fifa Election

A survey among African football federation leaders has shown that Mohammed Bin Hammam will overwhelmingly win the African votes if the Fifa presidential election is held today.

The poll by www.afrikansoccer.com shows that the reigning Fifa president Sepp Blatter is losing his support in the continent that previously voted overwhelmingly for the Swiss national. The two men are fighting to lead football’s world governing body with the election few weeks away.

The survey of FA chairmen across the continent found only 30 percent of them in favour of extending Blatter’s presidency when elections are held on 1 June. The African FA leaders are also slightly split along regional lines, with more Hammam supporters in North Africa, West and East Africa.

The best support for Blatter comes from Southern Africa who benefited immensely from the hosting of Africa’s first World Cup in South Africa last year.

None of the FA chairmen contacted by Afrikansoccer.com were willing to go public with their views but Musa Hassa Bililay, the president of the Liberia FA, recently said voting in Bin Hammam will change the African continent from being long-time followers to new leaders in world football.

Musa Hassa’s call for Africa to throw its weight behind Bin Hammam was buttressed by his Sierra Leonean counterpart, who said: “We should welcome the candidacy of Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed Bin Hammam.”

Despite bringing the World Cup to Africa, Blatter seems to be losing his grip over the continent because of Hammam’s strong links with Africa for over 15 years. The president of the Asian Football Confederation funded Blatter campaign when he swept to the Fifa seat in 1998 with majority of his votes coming from Africa thanks to the Qatari’s connections in African.

Hammam has continuously courted African FA bosses with his personal initiatives to help the game in their countries which seems to be the reason for the swift shift.