Chung Mong-joon claims FIFA presidential election being ''undermined''

Seoul: South Korean FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon has said the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has been 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, Chung said the letters asked members to sign a form pledging their support for Platini, the president of UEFA.

Chung said the letters were in breach of FIFA`s election guidelines and threatened to "undermine the fairness" of the election, which will be held in 2016 to decide the successor to 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."

Sheikh Salman has already publicly declared his support for Platini but there was no immediate response from the AFC about the letters.

Chung, the 63-year-old billionaire scion of South Korea`s Hyundai industrial conglomerate, said a similar letter was circulated among African members.

Chung said he had notified members of the FIFA Electoral Committee about the letters and asked for an investigation.