Caution needed in AIFF’S Saudi approach
federations without its consent.
There were two major warning signs that the AFC may have noted. Firstly, the new grouping omitted Qatar, currently in the midst of a bitter diplomatic dispute with fellow members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) led by Saudi Arabia, as well as Jordan. In Saudi Arabia’s quest for greater power in AFC, the political tint in SWAFF’S creation couldn’t have been missed. Secondly, the formation of SWAFF itself would have been seen as a challenge to AFC’S authority. However, later that month, the Asian football governing body stepped back from its stance.
AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who belongs to the Bahraini royal family that has close ties with Saudi royals, met Ezzat in Jeddah and gave a go-ahead for the new group on the condition that it would not impact the five existing AFC zonal bodies.
Yet, there is no mistaking that a body, backed by powerful royal families from almost all GCC countries and essentially borne out of a geopolitical conflict, can have serious repercussions on Asian football administration as Ezzat aims to piggyback it to the sport’s top job in the continent.
INDIAN INVOLVEMENT
In its general assembly in August, SWAFF elected AIFF senior official as its vice-president (south). The AIFF was promised an annual grant of $500,000 (~3.6 crore). It isn’t a giant figure, given AIFF’S annual budget in 2017-18 was ~69.92 crore.
With Ezzat running for the AFC top job, it is hardly anyone’s guess as to where the allegiance of AIFF and other countries part of this association lie.
However, in deciding to be a part of SWAFF, the AIFF has brought India in the middle of an AFC power struggle.
More importantly, by being part of what is, for all purposes, an anti-qatar bloc, it has deviated from the central government’s neutral stance in the dispute between Qatar and other GCC countries. When the dispute escalated in 2017, India had refused to take sides, instead calling for ‘constructive dialogue and peaceful negotiations’ between the GCC countries.
In such a backdrop, the longterm cost of AIFF’S move may far outweigh the short-term benefits it promises to bring.
SIMEONE WILL COACH INTER SOON: SISTER
Milan:atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone will ‘sooner or later’ become coach of Serie A giants Inter Milan, his sister and agent claimed on Sunday.
“I think it’s only a matter of time. He loves the club, the atmosphere and living in Milan. Inter is a side he would really love to coach,” Natalia Simeone told the Italian press.
Former Argentina international