.KUALA LUMPUR: Asian Football Confederation President Mohammed bin Hammam is pushing for constitutional changes in an apparent bid to deny Bahrain's FA chief a FIFA post, a former official said on Wednesday.

Shaikh Salman Ebrahim Al Khalifa is expected to challenge Bin Hammam for the executive committee seat in May when the Qatari's term expires.

Peter Velappan, AFC secretary-general for 30 years, told AFP constitutional amendments proposed on Tuesday were designed to "protect his (Bin Hammam's) fragile position".