27/28 October 2015

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahraini Sheikh
Salman's human rights
record scrutinized
ahead of FIFA election
DUBAI,
United
Arab
Emirates -- Bahraini royal
family member Sheikh
Salman bin Ibrahim Al
Khalifa is running for FIFA
president, a move that will
put his human rights record
under renewed scrutiny.
The
Asian
soccer
confederation said Monday
that Sheikh Salman, the
body's president, has the
"overwhelming
support"
of its executive committee.
The confederation said it
has been assured that the
sheikh's "campaign will be

Fifa presidential
candidate: Bahrain
Sheikh Salman rails
against human rights
abuse accusations
Sheikh Salman, a member
of Bahrain's ruling family
and a Fifa presidential
candidate, has hit out at
human rights groups which
he claims have wrongly
accused him of abuses as
head of the Bahrain Football
Association during the
country's 2011 uprising.
Salman, who announced his
candidacy to replace Sepp
Blatter on 15 October, has
protested his innocence of
the abuses saying: "I cannot
deny something that I
haven't done".
The head of the Asian

entirely self-financed and

that he will not use the
AFC's resources, human or
otherwise, in the election."
The 49-year-old Sheikh
Salman is one of seven
contenders
who
have
declared their candidacies
before Monday's filing
deadline for the Feb. 26
election. They are seeking
to replace Sepp Blatter as
the governing body tries
to move beyond serious
corruption allegations.
FIFA's election oversight
committee was quickly
urged by rights groups to
reject Sheikh Salman as a
candidate when it conducts
integrity checks required by
election rules.

Read more

Confederation of Football
told BBC Sport: "Such
accusations are not just
damaging, it's really hurting.
Some people have agenda on
their table. These are false,
nasty lies that have been
repeated again and again in
the past and the present."
Salman is accused by a
number of Human Rights
groups in his native
Bahrain and abroad of
being complicit in Bahrain's
brutal
crackdown
on
peaceful protests calling
for democratic reform in
2011. In particular, Salman
is alleged to have headed a
committee which identified
dissenting athletes and
sports
personalities
in
2011 and then had them
imprisoned and tortured.

Read more

Sheikh Salman submits

candidacy papers to
FIFA -report
The president of the Asian
Football
Confederation
(AFC), Sheikh Salman
Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa
of Bahrain, has formally
entered the race to become
FIFA president, the Bahrain
News Agency reported on
Sunday.
The agency said Sheikh
Salman had submitted
his paperwork to FIFA
headquarters on Sunday, a
day ahead of the deadline
for candidates to deliver
the nominations from five
soccer associations.
The Bahraini, who is closely
allied with Kuwaiti Sheikh
Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah,
one of the most powerful

FIFA, Man United, and

Torture in Bahrain
The 2011 targeting of
footballers
and
other
athletes in Bahrain following
the pro-democracy protests
there is threatening Sheikh
Salman bin Ebrahim al
Khalifa's bid for the FIFA
presidency.
Al Khalifa of Bahrain's
ruling family has announced
his candidacy for the post
this week saying the job
required "an experienced,
competent and honest
leadership
capable
of
winning the confidence of
the international football
community."
But then UK newspaper
The Guardian uncovered
what seems to be a smoking
gun document linking him
directly to the crackdown,

men in international sports

politics and a key figure in
the Olympic movement,
had canvassed opinion from
Asian soccer associations
last week.
Sheikh Salman had initially
backed Michel Platini,
the UEFA president. But
the Frenchman's troubles,
which originated with a
2011 payment of two million
Swiss francs ($2.04 million)
from Blatter's FIFA for work
done nine years earlier, have
dramatically changed the
electoral landscape.

Read more

suggesting he was a senior

member of a special
committee set up to identify
athletes who took part in the
demonstrations.
AP estimated that more
than 150 athletes, coaches,
and referees were targeted,
and some jailed for their
perceived part in the
protests.

Read more

FIFA presidential
candidate Sheikh
Salman unhappy with
'nasty lies'
FIFA presidential candidate
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim
al-Khalifa claims allegations
made to Sky Sports News
HQ of his involvement in
human rights abuses are
"lies".
The
Asian
Football
Confederation
president
is one of eight candidates
hoping to replace Sepp
Blatter, when delegates vote
on his successor in February.
And Salman admits being
hurt by accusations that
he was complicit in the
detention of footballers and
other athletes in 2011 while
head of the Bahrain Football
Association.
Kate Kizer from the group

Fifa candidate Sheikh

Salman: Torture claims
are 'nasty lies'
Fifa presidential candidate
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim
al-Khalifa
has
called
allegations he was complicit
in the torture of footballers
"nasty lies".
Sheikh Salman has been
accused by Bahraini human
rights groups of helping to
identify players and other
athletes involved in 2011
democracy protests.
He was head of the Bahrain
Football Association and a
member of the ruling royal
family when security forces
put down mass Shia-led
protests calling for political
reforms.

Americans for Democracy

& Human Rights in Bahrain
told Sky Sports News HQ:
"He should not be permitted
to run for the presidency of
FIFA, primarily for his role
in the crackdown against
protestors and athletes in
Bahrain in 2011.

Read more

Several people died, while

others
were
arrested,
detained and tortured.
"I cannot deny something
that I haven't done," the
49-year-old told BBC Sport.
"Such accusations are not
just damaging, it's really
hurting. Some people have
agenda on their table."

Read more

FIFA presidency
candidate Salman hits
out at nasty lies
REUTERS
FIFA
presidential
candidate
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim
Al Khalifa has dismissed
accusations
of
human
rights abuses during his
time as Bahrain Football
Association head as nasty
lies, in comments to the
BBC on Tuesday.
Salman, head of the Asian
Football
Confederation
(AFC), submitted his papers
on Monday to stand in
FIFA's Feb. 26 election to
decide upon a new leader of
the world governing body,
engulfed in a corruption
crisis.
But Salman's declaration
came amid an outcry

Exclusive Bahrain
FA: Shaikh Salman can
lead helm of FIFA
Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim
Al Khalifa yesterday received
full support from his home
association

Bahrain
Football Associaition- in his
bid to become the president
of Fifa.
In a statement released
earlier, president of BFA
Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa
Al Khalifa said Shaikh
Ebrahim, president of Asian
Football
Confederation
(AFC)
and honourary
president of BFA, is capable
of leading the helm of Fifa

from human rights groups

who say that he, as head
of the Bahrain Football
Association and member
of Bahrain's royal family,
had local football players
arrested, detained, abused,
tortured
and
publicly
humiliated
during
democracy protests in
February 2011.
Bahrain was swept by
protests during the 2011
Arab Spring uprisings in
which the Shi'ite majority
demanded political reforms
from the Sunni Muslim
ruling family.

Read more

with efficiency and with

applying the highest of
success factors, and to instill
in Fifa the spirit of positive
change and new challenges,
given the vast experience
he has, and his methodical
and modern approach to
development, to overcome
the current status and
divert the negative images
that have stigmatised the
recent period, to achieve the
progress all aspire to.
Shaikh Salman is one
of the most prominent
personalities in the world of
football on the Arab, Asian
and International levels,
one who has rendered
magnificent services to
football and has contributed
generously to its success and
development, he added.

Read more