MANCHESTER: Prince Ali bin Al Hussein described today the frustrations of serving on the world football federations’s executive committee, as he did from 2011 until last May in the role of the Asian confederation’s FIFA vice-president writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Appearing at the Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester he said: “I tried my best. I served for four years on the executive committee and during those four years I tried my best to bring new ideas that reflect the world as a whole and their desire for how people see the organisation of FIFA, being the governing body of the most popular sport in the world.

“It was very challenging and having been the youngest person on the executive committee at that time it was difficult but I also made the decision, having seen what happened, that I could not remain on the executive committee under the circumstances we were.

“That’s why I decided somebody had to take up the challenge [of challenging Sepp Blatter for the presidency] because, with the situation we were in, what was needed was a change of leadership to bring about a FIFA that is respectable.

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