Salman for FIFA head appalling choice: Rights group

A Washington-based human rights body advises against electing a Bahraini royal, who currently heads the Asian Football Confederation, as the president of the world soccer’s governing body.

Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifah could win the top FIFA position during an election on Friday.

On Thursday, the Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), which is critical of Manama’s rights record, said Salman played the leading role in persecuting those athletes in the kingdom, who took part in anti-regime protests in 2011.

"He headed up an investigative committee that was established by Prince Nasr of Bahrain, who's the king's son, that was tasked with identifying athletes and sportsmen, who took part in the protests to then hold them accountable for punishment for defaming the country,” said Kate Kizer, the organization’s spokesperson.

“As the head of the BFA, the Bahrain Football Association, it was his role to protect athletes from any type of punitive action for expression in their free speech or expressing their political opinions and he did not do that," she noted.

Bahrain, a close ally of the United States in the Persian Gulf region, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the ruling Al Khalifah dynasty since mid-February 2011. Bahrain’s ongoing heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful demonstrations has left scores of people dead and hundreds injured.

The spokeswoman also raised issue with a censored version of an Amnesty International pledge signed by the royal, under which he supposedly made an election promise of ending abuse and corruption across the football world.

Upon his request, the pledge omitted references to women’s rights and the contested awarding to Russia and Qatar of the privilege to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

"I think it would be an appalling decision by FIFA member states (to elect the royal). I think that his election will make it clear to everyone in the international community that it will continue business as usual at FIFA and that any reform steps that they do take will just be window dressing," Kizer said.

The four other FIFA presidential candidates are Jordan Football Association President Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, former FIFA Deputy Secretary General Jerome Champagne of France, Gianni Infantino, the current secretary general of the European soccer body UEFA, and South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale.

Corruption scandal

FIFA started to get embroiled in a scandal in 2014 after Swiss authorities launched a raid on a gathering of some of its senior members in Zurich, arresting several of them.

The Swiss government said the raid was part of a probe led by the United States into corruption allegations against the FIFA officials.

A separate probe has been launched in Switzerland into the granting of the World Cup events to Russia and Qatar.

The scandal has so far led to an eight-year ban from all football-related activities against FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA boss, Michel Platini.

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