Ammon News - Fox Sports football commentator Simon Hill chats with the president of the Jordan Football Association, HRH Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, ahead of the vital clash with Australia at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.
Simon: When did your love affair with football begin?
HRH Prince Ali bin Al Hussein: Like any young person, I enjoyed football - I played a bit when I was young, and have always followed it. I’ve always been an Arsenal fan - and the Jordan national team of course. I studied in the UK, and a lot of my friends were Man United, so I thought I would be different. When I became president of the Jordanian FA in 1999, I was the average age of the national team player - so I could understand their perspective. Sometimes it’s a "top down" look when it comes to administration - so I try to look from a players, and a coaches perspective.
How has Jordan become an influential team in Asia?
It comes from the passion of the Jordanian people - they have always loved football. It's also been coupled with more resources, with the implementation of the grass roots programmes, building from the bottom up. We’re seeing the results of that now. We started with youth training centres - the majority of our national team have come out of those centres, which are based throughout the country. If you look at our youth teams, they are qualifying regularly for Asian finals. In 2007, our team also qualified for the FIFA World Youth Championships in Canada. Those players are the backbone of our senior national team right now.
Was the success against Australia Jordan's biggest moment in football?
We’ve had a lot of big moments - for example, winning the Pan Arab Games in 1997 and 1999 was very important. But beating Australia was very significant - especially as it’s the first time we have reached the final round of World Cup qualifying.
How big an influence was (the late) Mahmoud El-Gohary on the development of the game in Jordan?
Personally, he was a very close friend, and someone I trusted and respected. He was national team coach at a time when our ranking was not too great. A lot of coaches might have said no to us - but he came wholeheartedly, and took us up to the ranking of 37 with FIFA at the time. Following that, I found that there was a problem with the implementation on a technical level of our grass roots programme, so he came in as an advisor, and was doing that until he died last year. A real gentleman.
Is Adnan Hamad the man to take Jordan to its first ever World Cup - and what would it mean to the nation?
(Laughs) I couldn’t predict that! It’s the most popular sport by far - there is so much pride in our boys. Part of the reason is that it’s the peoples sport - our players are from all over the country, so everyone is touched by what they do, and they are symbols for our people. Great ambassadors.
Adnan Hamad is great, he has his own style. He understands the mentality of our players. We were struggling a bit in our campaign to reach the Asian Cup in 2011 - he came in and took us through. I believe in continuity - sometimes you have ups and downs, but that’s our mentality.
You worked very closely with Australia's Moya Dodd in pushing the issue of wearing the "hijab" for women players with FIFA. Do you consider that success one of your great achievements?
It's very significant - it was a tough campaign to get it through. But the most important thing is that everyone should be respected and be allowed to play as long as its safe. I wanted FIFA to demonstrate their commitment to inclusiveness, and to remove cultural barriers. Moya is a wonderful colleague - someone I truly respect. She did a lot on this issue, and in chairing the women's committee at the AFC, she is contributing a lot.
With regards to your work with AFC - would you say the body is split along East-West lines after the Mohammed Bin Hammam suspension?
The opposite. I get along with my colleagues from right across the region. We have differences of opinion - but its not regional.
Should the AFC be split into two separate confederations?
No - if we talk about football, the more competition we have, the better it is for the continent. The inclusion of Australia has been really important in that regard - we have all benefited from it. There are travel challenges, but this is the modern day, and easy to overcome.
Would you consider standing for the AFC Presidency?
I'm not planning to. I've always said that, if and when elections come, we need candidates who have a programme, and they should be based on football alone, not zones or regions. What I want to do, is just to make sure the continent is unified.
You also sit on the FIFA ExCo - what are your views on the reform process...is it proceeding in the right way, and is it fast enough?
It’s moving, but the most important thing is to see where it's at with the next meeting. The reforms need to be implemented properly. FIFA is going through an interesting time, and I’m glad to be a part of it right now, because that allows me to have an effect.
Are you in favour of one association, one vote, for future World Cup hostings?
It's an interesting debate - it makes sense to give each association a vote, but a lot of member associations don’t want to have the pressure of voting, so that’s why there’s an ExCo in the first place. Perhaps the ExCo could recommend a short list, which then goes to the FIFA congress to decide…that’s one option.
*FoxSports
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