FIFA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION:MOHAMED BIN Hammam will fire the first shot in the campaign for the Fifa presidency today with formal calls for candidates to be prevented from using Fifa funds and resources for lobbying. In line with the April 1st deadline the Qatari will deliver a letter to Fifa today formally announcing his candidacy for the Fifa presidency and will urge Fifa's general secretary Jerome Valcke to monitor closely the campaigning process.

With the costs involved of a global campaign potentially running into hundreds of thousands of euros, Bin Hammam is concerned Fifa’s executives and staff may find it difficult to remain impartial. He is keen to guard against Fifa funds or staff time being used to support Sepp Blatter’s campaign as the incumbent president.

In the days before Bin Hammam declared his candidacy a fortnight ago Blatter travelled to the heart of the Asian Football Confederation president’s powerbase. Blatter flew to East Timor, Burma and Laos on official Fifa business promoting development projects in those regions. He is likely to have coupled those visits with legitimate promotion of his campaign ahead of the June 1st election. But if any visits paid by Fifa are undertaken without any formal business between now and the election with the sole purpose of lobbying for a vote, it may constitute a breach of fiduciary duty under Fifa’s code of ethics.

It is unlikely Bin Hammam would take any complaint to the ethics committee but Fifa is governed by Swiss law and it is understood Bin Hammam could approach the police if he had concerns.

As a billionaire construction magnate Bin Hammam is more than capable of funding his campaign.

He is also rumoured to have the support of the Fifa vice-president Chung Mong-joon, the multi-billionaire scion of the Hyundai family who steps down from his Fifa role on June 1st. Blatter’s resources are more limited.

Indeed, when he won his first mandate as Fifa president 13 years ago, he relied on Bin Hammam’s direct patronage.

* Guardian Service