Prince Ali questions ´collective punishment´ of CONCACAF, CONMEBOL

FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein believes FIFA has questions to answer after the suspension of payments to CONCACAF and CONMEBOL amid the corruption scandal involving world football’s governing body.

In a statement this week, FIFA confirmed it had put financial contributions to both CONCACAF and CONMEBOL – governing bodies for North, Central American and Caribbean and South American football respectively – on hold and that it would seek to “increase the level of assurance” before releasing further funds.

Officials from CONCACAF and CONMEBOL were among those indicted by the U.S department of Justice on charges of racketeering conspiracy and corruption.

The federations are set to jointly put on the Copa America Centenario in the United States this year and Prince Ali – who will seek to succeed Sepp Blatter at FIFA’s Extraordinary Congress this month – described the decision as “collective punishment”.

“I have read reports that a FIFA spokesperson has announced that funding to CONCACAF and CONMEBOL has been suspended with immediate effect,” he said.

“Who is the spokesman; which FIFA committee does he represent; who decided that 45 Member Associations should suffer collective punishment as a result of individuals’ bad actions; who decided to hold these votes to ransom less than three weeks before the election and who exactly will decide when the funding will be reinstated.”

The last three CONCACAF presidents, Jack Warner, Jeffrey Webb and Alfredo Hawit, were among those indicted while former CONMEBOL presidents Nicolas Leoz and Angel Napout have both agreed to extradition over the past two months.

Prince Ali will go up against Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa and Tokyo Sexwale to be the next FIFA president, with elections set for February 26.