Sepp Blatter ally AFC opposes FIFA vote delay

Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation, a key ally of FIFA president Sepp Blatter with its own recent history of corruption allegations, insisted Thursday that the FIFA congress and presidential election should go ahead as planned.

Despite the arrest of seven senior FIFA officials on corruption charges, the powerful AFC -- whose disgraced former president Mohamed bin Hammam was in 2012 banned from football for life in the wake of a "cash for votes" scandal -- reiterated its support for Blatter in Friday`s FIFA presidential election in a statement posted on its website.

AFC members hold 47 of the 209 votes in the FIFA election, third only behind Africa`s CAF (56 votes) and Europe`s UEFA (54).

European governing body UEFA has already called for Friday`s vote to be postponed and threatened to boycott the congress warning that it risked becoming "a farce".

Seven FIFA officials, including vice-president Jeffery Webb, were arrested in Wednesday dawn raids in Switzerland to face bribery, racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering charges in the US. 

The AFC "expresses its disappointment and sadness at Wednesday`s events in Zurich whilst opposing any delay in the FIFA presidential elections," the statement said. 

Former AFC president and FIFA executive committee member bin Hammam of Qatar was banned from the game for life in December 2012 over "conflicts of interest" following allegations of bribery. 

"The AFC is against any form of corruption in football," said the statement. "The AFC is still undergoing its own process of reform and has taken many concrete steps in the last two years... whilst recognising that there is still much work to do.

"Furthermore, the AFC reiterates its decision taken at the AFC Congress in Sao Paulo in 2014, endorsed at subsequent congresses in Melbourne and Manama in 2015, to support FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter."

The AFC had on Wednesday as the scandal erupted also issued a press release, without a hint of irony, saying it had signed a new memorandum of understanding with FIFA that "will further strengthen" cooperation in areas such as "governance" and "football integrity".

The arrests in Zurich came as part of a US Justice Department 47-count indictment that named nine officials of football`s governing body and five sports marketing officials as being involved in alleged bribes and kickbacks amounting to more than $100 million over the past two decades.