FIFA candidate Sheikh Salman ready to do deal with Infantino
Sheikh Salman of Bahrain is prepared to do a deal with Gianni Infantino in order to become the next FIFA president.
Salman is president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and many FIFA-watchers believe he is the frontrunner to replace Sepp Blatter when a new president is elected in Zurich next month.
Salman and the AFC initially backed UEFA president Michel Platini for the FIFA presidency but Salman decided to stand when it became clear Platini would not be able to run after he was implicated in a corruption scandal.
Platini has been replaced by Infantino as UEFA's candidate and there has been talk of Salman doing a deal with the UEFA general secretary.
Salman said: "My relations with Europe are very close. If they want to sit and find a solution, then why not? We cannot say no to anything. We will support whatever is good for the organization. I have worked with Gianni for the past few years. So far there's no agreement and no deal but let's see what happens in the next few days."
Infantino appeared to rule out the possibility of doing a deal with any of the other four candidates last Friday and said he was confident of winning on his own.
Speaking after the UEFA executive committee meeting, he said: "There is no question of any deals. I am a candidate for the FIFA presidency until the end."
The AFC backed Blatter in the last FIFA presidential election in May and Salman believes Blatter did many good things during 17 years as the most powerful man in football.
Salman said: "The person has put so much into football. I'm not saying there's no positive and no negative, he has put in so many programmes since he took office in 1998. He has done so many good things.
"Choosing the right time to go was a decision he should have taken more lately. There is so much positive he has contributed. We have to carry on the good work that has been done before, but with a different approach. I have respect for him and his contribution to the game. Life has changed, we have to turn a page."
Salman has promised he will not receive a salary if he is elected president. In his manifesto, he says he is committed to reforming FIFA by making it more transparent and by not micromanaging the organization.
FIFA has been rocked by a series of corruption scandals during the past nine months. Blatter and Platini have been banned, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke sacked and suspended, and 41 football officials and companies charged with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering by US authorities.
Salman said: "It is a shock and it is saddening but we have to move on. We cannot call it a FIFA scandal.
"We have to be just and fair. Out of 400 plus employees in FIFA they are doing a great job. Football is continuing, the games and tournaments are going very well but what happened is something that is outside the responsibility of FIFA.
"Those cases have occurred in the Americas, then this is something that concerns them, with some people who probably did some misconduct in their confederation which is outside FIFA jurisdiction. We have to be very fair on exactly what happened and come out and tell the truth."
The presidential election has so far proved good-natured but Prince Ali of Jordan accused Salman of making a blatant attempt at engineering a block vote after the AFC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Confederation of African Football.
Salman said: "He has his opinion but we have to be mature a bit on how we communicate. If you want to take on that seat [of FIFA president], you have to prove to everyone that you can be wise and choose your words wisely.
"Any confederation has the right to come out and declare their support for a candidate. I don't agree with his comments and I mentioned that in my reply in a very polite and respectful way."
