Chung accuses AFC of ‘undermining’ FIFA election

SEOUL — South Korean FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon has accused the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) of sending unsolicited letters to its members urging them to support his rival Michel Platini at next year’s election.

In a statement released on Thursday and read out at a news conference in Seoul, Chung said the letters asked members to sign a form pledging their support for Platini, the head of European football’s governing body UEFA.

Chung said the letters were in breach of FIFA’s election guidelines and threatened to “undermine the fairness” of the poll, which will be held on February 26, 2016, to decide the successor to outgoing incumbent Sepp Blatter.

“Sheikh Salman, president of the Asian Football Confederation [AFC], has publicly supported Michel Platini, president of the UEFA,” the statement said.

“We have learned that the AFC has sent unsolicited letters to almost every AFC member association. Most of the AFC member countries including China, Japan, Mongolia, India and Singapore received this letter. South Korea and Jordan, however, did not.”

Chung, the 63-year-old billionaire scion of South Korea’s Hyundai industrial conglomerate, formally announced last month that he was running for the FIFA presidency. HRH Prince Ali is also among the potential candidates.

Platini has long been the bookmakers’ favourite to succeed Blatter and Sheikh Salman has publicly declared his support for the Frenchman.

There was no immediate response from the AFC on Thursday relating to Chung’s statement about the letters.

Chung, who has been a vocal critic of both Blatter and Platini, said a similar letter was circulated among African members but the Confederation of African Football (CAF) intervened and “deemed its behaviour highly improper and took measures to rectify the situation”.

Although there has never been an Asian or African FIFA president, the two regions account for almost half the 209 members that will decide the next boss of football’s embattled world governing body, with Asia holding 46 votes and Africa 54.

“Given that the confederations exercise tremendous influence over its member associations in organising football tournaments and through administrative oversight, it is clear that the fairness of the FIFA presidential election has been seriously compromised,” Chung said.

“According to FIFA Statutes, only the member associations possess the right to propose candidates for the office of FIFA president, and each member should make its decision independently and with no influence from third parties.”

Chung said he had notified the FIFA Ad hoc Electoral Committee and the FIFA Ethics Committee about the letters and asked for an investigation.

“We also requested the Ad hoc Electoral Committee to promptly institute remedies sufficient to address the prejudice and harm already sustained by other potential candidates,” Chung said.

“This includes the nullification of any ‘support’ for the candidature of Mr Platini received through the form letters sent by the AFC, the senior official of CAF and/or any other confederation.”