The world’s soccer governing body is set to select its next president just a month from now. The election shall be held on 26th of Feb 2016. The election, which will replace the now suspended Sepp Blatter, will be conducted by FIFA’s 209 member associations.
Here is the profile of the five candidates cleared for the Zurich-based FIFA elections:
Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, Bahrain
He is the current FIFA vice-president, Asian Football Confederation president and also the cousin to King of Bahrain. He is a great fun of Manchester United and at one time lived in London while studying accountancy. His major pro is that he has handled AFC so confidently. Several allegations have been leveled against him such as complicit in identifying footballers as well as athletes.
Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, from Jordan
He was once the FIFA VP, and he is presently Jordan Football Association president. He is a third born to King Hussein of Jordan. Among his major pros is that he has been a champion of reforms within FIFA. Also, he successfully overturned the ban on the use of hijab in football. However, he has b far failed to get backing from his federation and also that of world football powerbrokers.
Gianni Infantino, Switzerland
Currently, he is the UEFA general secretary. He is an efficient administrator and a key world football powerbroker. Gianni is also fluent in some languages: French, English, German and Italian. His late decision to run may play as a con to his ambition to lead this powerful body. He decided to run after Platini was suspended and would still step aside for him if he were to be allowed in. There are still some questions that he has to answer concerning the match-fixing scandal in Greece.
Tokyo Sexwale, South Africa
Mr. Sexwale is an anti-apartheid activist in the same camp as Nelson Mandela. He has worked in the South African government and then moved on to become a multi-millionaire in the mining sector. In the 2010 world cup, he was on the organizing committee. His major pro is that he has the backing of an inspirational story and has a positive reputation within FIFA. He however has some controversies concerning his business dealings and private life. The 2010 world cup was a major factor in sending the FIFA bosses home.
Jerome Champagne, France
He is a former deputy secretary-general to FIFA and was a French diplomat. He was ousted from body as a result of the fights within the governing body. Due to the fact he was in FIFA, he is aware of how it works internally. He therefore has ideas on how he can reform the world football governing body progressively. He is by far the only candidate that has manifesto. Blatter may be the reason for his downsides. He is yet to shake off the opinion that he is a puppet of the big man. He also has quite some powerful enemies within the game.