Welcome to the world of football where two men hoping to become the leader of FIFA, football’s world governing body, are using the same campaign company despite ostensibly being in opposition.
Luis Figo, the former Barcelona and Real Madrid midfielder and Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin-Al Hussein have engaged London-based Vero Communications to help land them the top job.
A public relations company with great experience in sport, Vero also has a wider communications brief working with UEFA, the European confederation within FIFA.
Meaning truth in Latin, Vero has enjoyed great success helping Qatar win the hosting bid for the 2022 World Cup, running Brian Cookson’s successful presidential bid for the International Cycling Union (UCI) and working with the city of Belo Horizonte during the World Cup in Brazil.
Now it is set to play a key role in the presidential election — by representing two of the candidates.
Both men along with Dutchman Michael van Praag are hoping to bring an end to the 17-year reign of Sepp Blatter, who at the age of 78 is aiming for a fifth consecutive term in office.
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“I think one important thing is to increase the solidarity payments to the federations, because right now FIFA has so many financial reserves that belong to the federations.”
Prince Ali, who spoke exclusively to CNN earlier this month, said he would leave FIFA altogether if Blatter won re-election.
“I think the main point is to have a new culture” Ali told CNN in an interview after he addressed the media for the first time since announcing his intention to run.
“It’s about not having the game controlled by people’s personal opinions or the whims of the president. It needs to be inclusive for all.”
“I’ve tried as much as I can to reform it from within… having seen what’s happened I’m not going to allow another four years of this,” Prince Ali added while talking about FIFA’s internal workings.
