From favorite Salman to flop Sexwale, FIFA hopefuls assessed
Kuwait, Indonesia face being banned from having a say in Friday election
LONDON, Feb 21, (AP): When national soccer leaders enter FIFA’s secret voting booths to select a president on Friday, Sepp Blatter won’t be an option for the first time in 22 years.
Five candidates are seeking the job of running world soccer and showing criminal authorities that scandal-tarnished FIFA can clean up its act while regaining the trust of fans.
The emergency election in Zurich — nine months after Blatter was voted in for a fifth term — was prompted by the ident Issa Hayatou and Salman’s Asia. Hayatou quickly relinquished some of his CAF powers.
FIFA then rejected Ali’s complaint — several months into the campaign — about the election watchdog chief sharing Infantino’s Swiss-Italian nationality.
Ali spent four years on the FIFA inner-sanctum as a vice president until May, but he has been the most outspoken of the five candidates about the governing body’s culture, criminality and damaged status.
Champagne spent the first decade of the century at FIFA, working as deputy secretary general and international relations director before being forced out in 2010.
Although vocal from the outside since then about the need to rebalance the power in world soccer while championing smaller and emerging federations, Champagne has still appeared to be a Blatter loyalist.
The former French diplomat failed to gain the five nominations required to stand last year, but he did meet the threshold this time. The five have never been named and he does not appear to have amassed votes through the campaign.
Champagne’s self-funded campaign has the personal touch rivals lack, such as tweeting himself, but fellow European Infantino has eclipsed him on the stump. The 57-year-old Champagne has criticized the financial viability of Infantino’s cash pledges.
The 62-year-old South African had the credentials to be a powerful voice in the campaign. A former Robben Island prisoner and anti-apartheid activist, Sexwale’s profile had grown leading FIFA’s attempts to resolve differences between Israeli and Palestinian soccer leaders.
But his election campaign had been a complete washout. Ghana federation president Kwesi Nyantakyi derided Sexwale’s pitch to CAF for focusing on his past friendship with Nelson Mandela and time on Robben Island over any plan for soccer.
Scant discussion of Sexwale’s candidacy has been dominated by speculation about when he would withdraw. It’s yet to happen.
The Vote
Kuwait and Indonesia face being banned from having a say in the FIFA election due to government interference in the federations’ independence. That would leave 207 voters.
A two-thirds majority of 138 is required to win in a first round of voting. If that target is not met, a simple majority of over 50 percent — 104 — is necessary from the second round. The lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated from subsequent rounds.
From FIFA’s founding in 1904, there were no contested elections until Stanley Rous was elected in 1961. The Englishman was unseated by Joao Havelange in the 1974 vote.
Havelange led FIFA unchallenged for 24 years.
The Brazilian won re-election for the final time in 1994 before being succeeded four years later by Blatter. The 79-year-old Swiss won two of his five elections unopposed.