Prince Ali vows to 'open the books' if elected FIFA head

LONDON — FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Hussein has said he will make public all financial documents at soccer's world governing body if he is elected. In an interview with Japan's Kyodo news agency, the Jordanian royal said he would lift the lid on any previously undisclosed documents, including any payments made to top FIFA officials. "I will open the books completely," Prince Ali said. "I believe people have a right to know. I think it's a job that has to be recognized and if you want to have accountability, you need to know what's there and therefore you can judge. "Salaries, finances, what have you, that should all be open. Why not? People want it to be open." Prince Ali is one of five men that have been approved as presidential candidates for next February's election. He lost out to Sepp Blatter in the last presidential election in May and is running again on a manifesto pledging to restore the reputation of the scandal-ridden governing body. "The organization itself, FIFA, it's not broken. But it is at rock bottom and we can build up definitely," he said. "But we have to be open, we have to be transparent — and not in words but in deeds. I think that's what people want and we have to have a new outlook in the way we work." Infantino vows reforms UEFA's Gianni Infantino, meanwhile, said he would work to clean up FIFA from "day one" if elected leader after an evening of close discussions with his Asian rival Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa. Infantino told AFP that he would instigate reforms immediately if he is elected on Feb. 26 to succeed the suspended and deeply controversial Blatter. The general secretary of the European body was speaking after sitting side-by-side with Shaikh Salman, another leading contender for FIFA, at Sunday's Asian football awards near New Delhi. "Reforms ... need to be not only agreed but they need to be implemented as well," the Italian said late Sunday. "So as of day one, 27th of February, you have to start implementing and living the reforms, and from doing it on a day-by-day basis in UEFA I know what it means — good governance, financial transparency, structure of changes that are being proposed." Infantino and Salman, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), were seen having cordial discussions during the awards ceremony and gala dinner in Gurgaon. Jordan's Prince Ali was seated elsewhere. Neither Prince Ali or Shaikh Salman were prepared to discuss their FIFA ambitions, but the Bahraini royal gave an indication of Asia's growing clout and ambition in his opening address. "For a long time people talked about the future being Asia. I am now convinced that the present is Asia," Shaikh Salman told the crowd of hundreds of delegates. Shaikh Salman and Infantino are shaping as the leading candidates to take over FIFA, after a period of unprecedented turmoil sparked by a series of corruption claims. — Agencies