Prince Ali, vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), announced his intention to challenge Blatter on Tuesday (December 6).

The son of the late King Hussein and Queen Alia of Jordan is a close ally of UEFA President Michel Platini and can expect a sizeable proportion of the 54 European votes in May's election.

Platini ruled himself out of the running for FIFA Presidency last month when he announced his intention to run for another term as UEFA chief.

The Frenchman is an outspoken critic of incumbent Blatter and was "pleased" to hear of Prince Ali's challenge to the FIFA leadership.

Despite being a favourite in Europe, Prince Ali will likely need the support of his home continental federation in order to mount a serious challenge against Blatter, who is strongly backed by Africa.

Prince Ali bin Al Hussein will need to win the support of Asian to mount a serious challenge on Sepp Blatter for FIFA Presidency ©Getty Images



A key man, who holds much sway over the Asian vote, is Sheikh Ahmad, who not only holds the top job at OCA, but is also President of the Association of National Olympic Committees.

It will come as a blow, therefore, that he has thrown his weight behind Blatter, stating during a trip to Jakarta, hosts of the 2018 Asian Games, that he will stick to the line he gave during the AFC General Assembly two years ago.

"For the FIFA issue, I was asked officially, I stood up in Kuala Lumpur two years ago," he said.

"I announced in the AFC General Assembly as a Kuwait delegate to support Blatter very openly.

"I was there and 46 football federations were there.

"The whole room gave a big round of applause supporting that."

He added: "When I commit, I commit.

"I repeat my commitment to Blatter for him to run for one more term.

"As to Prince Ali, I support him to keep his career in FIFA.

"If he takes my advice, I think it is too early for him.

"I was speaking for Kuwait.

"We will support Blatter very strongly and we will not allow anyone to challenge him."

Prince Ali bin Al Hussein will hold strong support in Europe with UEFA President Michel Platini an outspoken critic of FIFA President Sepp Blatter ©Getty Images



Prince Ali will have a strong fan base in Asia, with the 39-year-old being the founder and head of the West Asian Football Federation, and the AFC's FIFA vice-president.

His leadership over the Asian Football Development Project from 2012, as well as his roles on the Fair Play and Social Responsibility Committee and Football Committee at FIFA, give him a clean reputation in a time of turmoil for football's world governing body.

But overthrowing the hot favourite Blatter, who is running for a fifth term at the helm of FIFA, looks like a hurdle too many for the Jordanian who appears to be one step behind his Swiss counterpart in the battle for Asia.

This was further backed up by AFC general secretary Dato Alex Soosay, who told BBC Sport that the AFC had already agreed to back Blatter at their 2014 Congress.

"We made a pledge in Congress in Brazil that the entire Asian football family was supporting the FIFA President," he said.

"As Asia we should also stay together and be united rather than divided.

"For us the Asian Cup is paramount and I'm sure the member associations don't want to be affected by this situation.

"We just want to focus on football."

The campaign for FIFA Presidency will culminate in a vote in Zurich on May 29.

Blatter and Prince Ali will be joined by Frenchman Jérôme Champagne in the race for Presidency, after he announced his intention to run last January.

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