Peter the Great

Norman Siebel's accreditation tag, courtesy of his daughter Mel

It's hard to dislodge the incumbent

Loose cannon and the kingmaker

This article sent shockwaves around Asia

Because of it, Hammam had to issue a denial to Mailsport in 2004

The ongoings in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) draw little interest among the local media. The only journalists who wrote with passion about AFC and Asian football, based on the hours I spent doing research at the NSTP resource centre, were New Straits Times sports editors, Norman Siebel in the 50s and 60s and Mansoor Rahman in the 70s up to his demise in 1997.

The rest were content on covering the annual general meetings of AFC without dwelling too much into its internal issues.

Sultan Ahmad Shah's presidency from 1994 to 2002 earned AFC a little bit more column inches.

When Mohamed bin Hammam Al-Abdulla decided to go for broke in 2002, the kingmaker was Peter Velappan. Peter too brought Sultan Ahmad Shah in after Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah, president from 1978 to 1994, was considered surplus to requirements.

Now I was told Velappan will be holding a Press conference on Tuesday at 4.00pm at the Ritz Carlton. It is clearly stated on the media invite that Peter will speak on his mistake in bringing in Hammam to succeed Sultan Ahmad Shah seven years ago.

So Peter the Great is the real kingmaker, huh?