Mohamed bin Hammam has received the backing of FIFA's soon-to-be-ex-vice president Dr. Chung Mong-joon as the head of the Asia Football Confederation (AFC) attempts to oust the wildly unpopular Sepp Blatter as FIFA president this summer. Chung, who was expected to also challenge Blatter in the election but lost his place as vice president to Jordan's Prince Ali, has issued strong words denouncing the current head of international football's governing body:

Blatter has served as the Fifa secretary general and president for 30 years. Now it's time for him to give way to a new person.

In terms of finances, Fifa is more successful than the IOC [International Olympic Committee] and the president should be admired, beloved and respected but Blatter is not. I can't say Bin Hammam is perfect but he is the right candidate to bring change and revolution to Fifa.

If elected, bin Hammam has promised to bring changes in the way FIFA operates, especially in the mechanics of awarding World Cups, and the very fact that he's not Sepp Blatter may be enough to see the Qatari installed as the organisation's president. Despite the lack of support for Blatter around the world, it's difficult to call just how the election will go, thanks to UEFA and Michel Platini broadly backing the incumbent. The influential Chung's endorsement might just be able to tip some key votes towards bin Hammam.