Bin Hammam unopposed as AFC president

Mohamed Bin Hammam will run unopposed to retain the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation on January 6.

The Qatari power-broker is set for his third and final four-year term at the helm of the AFC, having confirmed earlier this year that he won’t challenge current FIFA president Sepp Blatter for his position in 2011.

Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein and Chung Mong-Joon of South Korea will contest the position of FIFA Vice President.

The latter is a potential challenger for Blatter’s leadership though, having been critical of the 74 year-old and his organization in the past.

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein is the president of the Jordan Football Association, as well as the West Asian Football Federation – which he founded – which consists of 13 member associations, including the likes of Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Bin Hammam’s FIFA executive seat is secure through 2013, after he won a bitterly fought election against Bahrain’s Sheik Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa in May last year.

Asia provides four members of FIFA’s 24-member ruling panel, whose most important task is choosing World Cup hosts.

The current FIFA executive committee will vote for the 2018 and 2022 host nations in a secret ballot on Dec. 2 in Zurich.

The AFC has four contenders in the 2022 poll, with Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea taking on the United States.