AP Interview: Prince Ali wants Asian clout in FIFA

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) ? Prince Ali bin Al Hussein is hoping to bring more positive change to FIFA and help boost Asia's influence in world soccer after spearheading a campaign against a ban on Islamic women wearing hijabs during matches.

The FIFA vice president said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that he hopes to contribute ideas on anti-corruption reform, which is expected to be discussed next week in Zurich.

"I'm optimistic that there will be positive change," Prince Ali said. "Obviously, we realize that things have to evolve, and I have full faith that we will evolve in a realistic way for the benefit of the sport."

The 36-year-old Jordanian prince is the youngest member of FIFA's 24-member executive committee. The committee likely will receive a report from a panel of experts next week advising FIFA on becoming more democratic, transparent and rigorous in its investigations.

"It's a very interesting time to be coming into FIFA, and therefore I have a lot of ideas," Prince Ali said. "I hope to continue to contribute, also in bringing the voice of Asia in a powerful way to this organization. We are, after all, the largest continent."

Prince Ali said that since he became FIFA vice president in January 2011, the campaign against the hijab ban "was one of my first proposals and challenges, and it was challenging, but I'm happy about the way things have gone."

The International Football Association Board took a step this month toward allowing female players to wear hijabs during games, five years after banning the headscarves because of safety reasons.

Prince Ali was optimistic an accelerated process to further test a design that holds the headscarves in place with safe Velcro fasteners will proceed smoothly ahead of the ratification of the decision in July.

His campaign against the hijab ban won the backing of the United Nations, which urged FIFA to give everyone the equal right to play soccer. Iran forfeited an Olympic women's qualifier against Jordan last June because players refused to play without hijabs.

Prince Ali said match-fixing was another problem that FIFA needs to handle better.

"Match-fixing is a huge issue that we have not only in our continent but all over the world," he said. "A lot of times you see those who are doing it are always ahead of the others, and I've always said even with FIFA that we need to put more resources into those who are tackling the issue."

Speaking about his hopes for his country in the final Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, Prince Ali expressed "full confidence in my boys," but acknowledged Jordan was in a "very tough group" with Australia, Japan, Iraq and Oman.

The Jordanian players "have a great fighting spirit, and I think we might just be the big surprise in this group," he said. "Any country that represents Asia represents us all, definitely, but obviously I hope that Jordan will be there."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-prince-ali-wants-asian-clout-fifa-132642020--soccer.html

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