by Our Sports Desk

FIFA presidential candidate Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa claimed yesterday that allegations of human rights abuses against him are “nasty lies,” which are part of a campaign against him.

The Asian Football Confederation president is one of eight candidates vying to replace Sepp Blatter in February but his bid has been hurt by accusations that he was complicit in the detention of footballers and other athletes while head of the Bahrain Football Association.

“I cannot deny something that I haven’t done,” said Khalifa.

“It’s not just damaging me, it’s damaging the people and the country. These are false, nasty lies that have been repeated again and again in the past and the present.”

Khalifa, previously head of the Bahrain FA, dobbed in athletes who had joined pro-democracy protests in the Gulf monarchy in 2011. They were savagely tortured and the protests drowned in blood with the help of Saudi troops.

Britain is one of Bahrain’s closest allies and has trained its police and troops for decades.

Khalifa, who voted for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, has said he will clean up Fifa’s battered reputation if elected.

“We have big examples of football organisations around the world — the Premier League, the Bundesliga, even Uefa who have from a football side and a revenue side, it is not even greater than Fifa, but it is handled in a very professional way.

And this is what we want to bring to Fifa.”

Khalifa will be up against Jordanian prince Ali bin al-Hussein, former Trinidad and Tobago player David Nakhid, former Fifa deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne, Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino, former anti-apartheid activist Tokyo Sexwale and Liberian FA president Musa Bility.