Bin Hammam ally nominated to run for AFC president

Updated: 2013-02-26 10:41

(Agencies)

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PETALING JAYA, Malaysia - FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi is a candidate to replace disgraced Mohamed bin Hammam as Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president.

Makudi says he's "extremely honored to be proposed and nominated" by the 11-nation regional body representing South East Asian football.

The group says Australia also backs the Thai official after attending Monday's meeting in Malaysia.

Makudi, a longtime bin Hammam ally, could face four rivals: interim AFC president Zhang Jilong of China, Bahrain's Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Yousef Al Serkal of the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia's Hafez El Medlej.

The 46-member Asian confederation elects a president on May 2 in Kuala Lumpur to complete bin Hammam's mandate through to 2015.

The Qatari official resigned in December during a FIFA investigation into his management of AFC finances.

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