08 Dec PRINCE ALI UNVEILS 4 KEY PILLARS FOR FOOTBALL

His Royal Highness Prince Ali bin Al Hussein launched his four key football pillars in his quest for the FIFA Vice President’s seat in Asia.

At a press conference here today, Prince Ali, President of the Jordan Football Association and of the West Asia Football Federation, announced his vision for football in his run-up bid:

Ø REVITALIZING THE REPRESENTATION OF MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS TO FIFA.

Ø FOCUSING ON GRASSROOT YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA.

Ø EMPOWERING WOMEN’S FOOTBALL IN ASIA.

Ø PROTECTING THE GAME.

HRH PRINCE ALI BIN AL HUSSEIN

“I present myself to you as a dedicated listener, devoted football fan and a bridge within Asia and beyond’,” he declared in his message to all National Football Associations in Asia.

Prince Ali, 35, who has sent a letter to this effect, to all forty-six (46) football associations in Asia, outlined his aims and vision. He added: “I will connect with you openly and advocate your causes and protect your rights in FIFA.”

He added that he will put the position of FIFA Vice-President (Asia) at the service of all Member Associations by establishing a ‘FIFA VP Development Fund’.

Prince Ali will personally invest in setting up the ‘FIFA VP Development Fund’ which will provide assistance to all Member Associations in Asia, in capacity building, technical support and grassroots initiatives

“This Fund will be available to all National Associations,” he said.

Building on his experience in developing youth football in Jordan and the region, Prince Ali stressed the importance of focussing on grassroots development as the second key pillar in his vision.

“As the largest and one of the youngest continent in the world, I strongly feel that youth participation in football today is a vital socioeconomic empowerment tool that will allow us to realize our potential,” he said. Prince Ali proposed the following for youth development:

Ø Launching grassroots initiatives in schools.

Ø Investing in elite youth players.

Ø Establishing talent identification programs.

To achieve the above, he will create a ‘dedicated grassroots bureau’ to intensify the focus of grassroots programs in all Member Associations.

As a strong advocate of women’s football, Prince Ali has proposed to introduce a professional football program for women and has offered it to all Member Associations to help raise the profile of women’s football in Asia.

“Asian women’s football has proven to be a remarkable success. We have to give the women more opportunities to play a greater proactive role on both local and national stages,” he pointed out.

Prince Ali strongly believes that more can be and must be done to strengthen women’s football.

And this, he said can be done by:

Ø Promoting women’s community football.

Ø Increasing the number of Asian teams participating in FIFA World Cups.

Ø Increasing the percentage of resources allocated to women’s football in the FIFA Financial Assistance Program.

Prince Ali underlined the need to work together with the Asian Member Associations and football leaders worldwide: “We need to engage in an open forum to exchange ideas, share experience in order to protect the elements of the game and ensure fairplay as a key FIFA principle.”

The election for the FIFA Vice-President (Asia) will be decided in Doha, Qatar on January 6th, 2011 at the Asian Football Confederation’s Congress.