UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino will run for the highest position in world football with the unanimous backing of UEFA’s Executive Committee.
Former Brazilian international Zico will not be in the running though after he was unable to get the letters of support he needed from five member associations. It is understood he only had four.
The 11pm deadline on Monday evening passed without him getting the elusive fifth letter which would have ensured he would be part of the vote on February 26.
A statement from European football’s governing body confirmed Infantino’s candidacy – but that does not mean the end of Michel Platini’s continued participation in the contest to succeed Sepp Blatter.
Platini is currently banned from football, and an investigation into an allegedly “disloyal payment” he received from FIFA remains ongoing, but sources close to the Frenchman say he will “absolutely not withdraw” from the race and has vowed to clear his name.
It now seems likely that if Platini is cleared, he will be UEFA’s candidate and Infantino will drop out of the race. If, however, Platini is not cleared, the expectation is Infantino would stay in.
Infantino said: “I will in due course be setting out my detailed thinking in a manifesto which will address the challenges and opportunities ahead.
UEFA president Michel Platini has previously said he will clear his name and stay in the FIFA race
“It will be based on the need for reform and also for a FIFA that genuinely serves the interests of all 209 national associations, big or small, and that puts football and football development at the top of its agenda.”
A UEFA ExCo statement on Infantino read: “The forthcoming election for a new FIFA president represents a crucial moment in the governance of the game and the future of FIFA itself.
“We believe that Gianni Infantino has all of the qualities required to tackle the major challenges ahead and to lead the organisation on a path of reform to restore FIFA’s integrity and credibility.
“We are delighted that Gianni has agreed to stand and he knows that he has our full support in his campaign to become FIFA president. He is in the process of submitting the required nominations and will issue a statement on his candidacy later today.”
Liberian FA boss Musa Bility and the president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, also announced their candidacies on Monday.
They join Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Tokyo Sexwale, Jerome Champagne and David Nakhid in the race after they – unlike Zico – were able to obtain five letters of support from FIFA member nations.
A look at the candidates
Sheikh Salman of Bahrain
Sheikh Salman has been the president of the Asian Football Conference since 2013. He backed outgoing president Sepp Blatter at the last election in May. He is the most powerful man in Asian football and chaired the FIFA taskforce that moved the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to winter.
He is a close friend and ally of key IOC and FIFA powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad of Kuwait.
Sheik Salman has denied allegations that, as the head of the Bahrain FA and a member of the royal family, he was involved in a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in 2011.
Michel Platini
The UEFA president was the favourite for the position until he was questioned by Swiss prosecutors last month about a £1.3m payment he received from Blatter in 2011.
Platini has vowed to stay in the race and clear his name. UEFA have now put up another candidate, Gianni Infantino – who may step aside if Platini is cleared. If Platini fails to clear his name, then Infantino will be UEFA’s candidate.
Gianni Infantino
Infantino is currently the General Secretary of UEFA, a position he has held since October 2009 and is currently also serving as a member of FIFA’s Reform Committee.
A trained lawyer, Infantino joined UEFA in August 2000 as part of their legal team and was appointed Director of UEFA’s Legal Affairs and Club Licensing Division in January 2004.
He was promoted to Deputy General Secretary before becoming General Secretary. He speaks fluent English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.
Prince Ali of Jordan
The Sandhurst graduate and brother of the King of Jordan is the only man who took on Blatter in last May’s election. With the backing of UEFA, he won 73 of the 209 votes, but without that backing this time, he is unlikely to do any better. Ali has lost support in Europe after he turned on Platini, describing him as “the son of Blatter”.
Ali wants FIFA to be truly democratic. He says the World Cup in Qatar will be a wonderful tournament.
Jerome Champagne
Champagne is a former FIFA deputy secretary general who announced on Friday that he would stand. The former French diplomat failed to receive the five letters of support he needed to stand in last May’s election.
Champagne has called for greater transparency at FIFA and wants to cut the number of European teams in World Cups from 2026.
He is also in favour of video technology to help referees and would introduce quotas to encourage more women to work at member associations.
Tokyo Sexwale
South African Sexwale is a diamond magnate who is close to Blatter. He was appointed by Blatter to mediate on football disputes between Palestine and Israel and is also a FIFA anti-racism adviser.
Before making his money, he was an anti-apartheid activist who spent 13 years in prison with Nelson Mandela. Sexwale was on the organising committee of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
He was also the host of the South African version of The Apprentice.
David Nakhid
Nakhid is a former Trinidad & Tobago midfielder who now runs a football academy in Beirut.
Caribbean associations have 25 of CONCACAF’s 35 votes in the presidential election.
Nakhid is campaigning on a platform of more transparency and an increased emphasis on football development worldwide.
He also wants to repair the damage done to the reputation of Caribbean football by former CONCACAF president Jack Warner.
Musa Bility
Bility has been the president of the Liberian FA since 2010. He is not afraid of speaking his mind or challenging the African Football Confederation, which has been run since 1988 by Issa Hayatou. Hayatou is the acting president of FIFA.
In the 2011 FIFA presidential election, Bility broke ranks with other African associations by declaring his support for Mohamed Bin Hammam instead of Sepp Blatter.
In 2013, he was given a six month ban for breaking African Football Confederations rules about the use of confidential documents. He denied any wrongdoing and said he had been targeted because he had challenged the confederation leadership.
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