FIFA Presidential Candidate Sheik Salman Caught Up In Human Rights Controversy

One of the FIFA Presidential candidates Sheik Salman was at the centre of fresh controversy on Saturday night as human rights groups and FIFA reform campaigners called for a full investigation into allegations of impropriety against him.

Sheik Salman is one of five candidates running to replace Blatter as the most powerful man in football but his campaign has been dogged from the start by allegations that the Bahrain royal family, of which he is a member, perpetrated human rights abuses during the Arab Spring of 2011. It is alleged that Sheik Salman chaired a committee whose task was to identify athletes, including footballers, who were involved in pro-democracy demonstrations. It is also alleged he was personally asked to assist a footballer who was detained and tortured during this period. 

A report by the Associated Press on April 18, 2011 cited a Bahraini athletics official, talking under condition of anonymity, saying the Sheik Salman-led committee had met, and that 150 athletes, coaches and other sports- people had been suspended because of links to anti- government activity, including four Bahrain international footballers. A spokesman for Human Rights Watch said on Sunday that “Sheik Salman has some very serious questions to answer, including whether he agreed to sit on a committee that sought to identify sportsmen and make them profess loyalty to the Bahraini regime”. 

A statement from Sheik Salman said: “While it was proposed that Sheik Salman lead a fact-finding committee, that committee was never formally established and never conducted any business whatsoever. Sheik Salman had nothing to do with that proposal and played no part in any sanctions taken against any individuals in 2011”