Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Leading local sports, youth, economic and academic figures and observers expressed pride in the courage and sportsmanship HRH Prince Ali Ibn al-Hussein displayed during Friday's balloting for the presidency of the global soccer's governing body (FIFA). They noted that Prince Ali graciously pulled out of the race after forcing the balloting in Zurich to go to a second round, leaving incumbent Swiss Sepp Blatter to win a fifth term at the helm of FIFA after he secured 133 of the 206 valid votes cast. Prince Ali had won 73, but neither candidate won an outright majority of two thirds of the votes in the first round.

Prince Ali's courage to run a strong campaign and challenge Blatter till the last minute, won him the respect of all and placed Jordan on the global soccer map when he captured the spotlight in the run-up to the vote, pundits commented.

They said the Prince was worthy of winning but the presidency went to Blatter despite the corruption scandals that had mired the world's football governing body "and had been obvious to all." "Prince Ali reaching the finals of the competition is quite an achievement, not only for Jordan but for all Arabs, particularly as the Prince had his own accomplishments and successes at the local and global levels, and had used this record to push for combating corruption at FIFA," commented Al Jazeera Club chief, Sameer Mansour.

MP Amjad Maslamani, spokesman of the Reform Parliamentary Bloc, said Prince Ali's run for the FIFA presidency and his good sportsmanship exhibited a bright image of Jordanian youth while focusing the spotlight on Jordan.

"Winning or losing is a possible and natural thing in any competition," commented another MP, Wafa' Bani Mustafa, adding that all Jordanians are proud of Prince Ali.

"Sports is all about fair play and good ethics. Prince Ali waged a clean sporting battle with high morals," commented Al Hussein Sports City Director General Atef Rweidan, noting the Prince's personal achievements in support of Jordanian and Asian football.

Al Manaseer Group Vice Chairman Muin Qadada noted that Prince Ali had entered the race for the FIFA top job under the motto "a corruption-free sport." National Football team coach Eslam Deyabat noted the profound pride of the Jordanian sports community in their Prince, noting that he was a courageous man, both when he decided to run and later when he opted to withdraw.