Asian football boss faces two challengers for presidency

KUALA LUMPUR: Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa will face two challengers when he seeks a fresh term at an election in April, the football body said Saturday.

Qatar’s Saoud Al-Mohannadi, an AFC vice president, and AFC executive committee member Mohamed Khalfan Matar Saeed Alromaithi of the United Arab Emirates are standing against Sheikh Salman, the body said.

Saudi Arabia’s Adel Ezzat — head of a new regional bloc, the South West Asian Football Federation — did not throw his hat into the ring, as had been widely expected.

Al-Mohannadi, the Qatar Football Association vice president, was hit with a one-year FIFA ban in 2016 for refusing to cooperate with a corruption inquiry, but the ban was overturned after he appealed. Anyone taking on Sheikh Salman, who is seeking a new, four-year term, faces a tough task.