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Bahrain, Brunei back Prince Ali for FIFA president

Bahrain, Brunei back Prince Ali for FIFA president

Bahrain and Brunei have thrown their support behind a bid by Jordan`s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein to oust incumbent Sepp Blatter as president of world soccer`s ruling body FIFA.

The Jordanian news agency Petra reported on Tuesday that Bahrain`s King Hamad and Brunei`s Prince Sufri had met Prince Ali, the FIFA vice-president for Asia, in Manama to discuss the May vote.

It said both men had assured Prince Ali of their countries` support.

Four candidates are standing for the top job in world soccer at the May 29 election, including Blatter who is celebrating his 79th birthday on Tuesday.

The other two are Michael van Praag, President of the Dutch governing body KNVB, and former Portugal winger Luis Figo.

The South American Football Confederation CONMEBOL has already signalled its backing for Blatter, who is seeking a fifth term in office and is favourite to win the vote.

Blatter is expected to sweep up most of the votes from Asia, Africa and South America. UEFA, which has 53 of the 209 votes, has yet to declare a favoured candidate.