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FIFA presidential candidates making final pitches for votes Sheikh Salman heavy favorite to win FIFA election Friday
(about 7 hours later)
ZURICH — All five FIFA candidates darted across Zurich in a final push to secure votes in Friday’s presidential election. ZURICH — The support of most nations in Africa and Asia and the backing of one of sports’ biggest power brokers should be enough to put Sheikh Salman of Bahrain in charge of the world’s most popular sport on Friday, as FIFA elects a president to maneuver the soccer body away from decades of corruption.
On a tour of regional confederations on Thursday, election favorite Sheikh Salman told North American members he would find ways to avoid cutting the number of coveted committee places — positions which carry expenses-paid meetings in Zurich. FIFA officials, delegates and observers told the Associated Press that surveys of voters and confederations indicate Salman had the most support and could win a majority on the first ballot. A second round of voting will likely be necessary unless the other four candidates concede. FIFA rules require a two-thirds majority (138 of 207 federations) on the first ballot, and a majority (104) on later rounds.
The pledge to maintain voters’ privileges and help educate them in soccer leadership seemed to endorse the kind of patronage FIFA was criticized for during Sepp Blatter’s presidency. Salman seems on track to get the biggest first-round tally, FIFA observers and officials not linked to any candidate told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The officials, who didn’t want their names used to avoid angering voters in the secret ballot, said Salman had received solid pledges of support to get votes ranging from the “high-90s” to 117.
“I can promise you that the numbers won’t change,” the Bahraini sheikh, who is the president of the Asian soccer confederation, told CONCACAF members. FIFA elections are typically secretive. Few voters offer public opinions and many promise votes to more than one candidate. “The only people you believe are the ones who say they won’t vote for you,” U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati once said.
Those same soccer leaders will take part in another vote Friday expected to pass FIFA reforms that include abolishing 17 of the current 26 standing committees. But even supporters of Salman’s biggest competition — Gianni Infantino, the Swiss general secretary of European governing body UEFA — were not saying Thursday they thought he was leading.
“I am sure that we need most of you around,” the sheikh told the officials, who make up 35 of the 207 eligible voters. “It is an investment in the people we have in football.” Salman would give the Asia region its first president in FIFA’s 112-year history. His election would extend a run of success in Olympic and international soccer votes for candidates and host cities supported by FIFA and International Olympic Committee member Sheikh Ahmad and his Kuwait-based vote-getting operation.
Minutes later, Infantino reminded the same group of delegates about his cash promises. “He is a friend, he is a brother, he is a colleague, a mentor,” Salman said of Ahmad. “All of the above. We work together.”
“Something is wrong if we cannot find 1 billion (dollars) out of 5 billion,” Infantino said, referring to the level of development funding pledges he has made from FIFA’s income at each World Cup. “And something is wrong because it has not been done.” Ahmad was key to delivering the IOC presidency to Thomas Bach in 2013, but has kept a lower profile presence in this four-month campaign. He maintained his public silence Thursday evening declining to comment to The Associated Press, even while making last-minute visits with Salman to the Zurich hotel shared by voters from the CONCACAF and Oceania regions — the non-aligned, “swing states” in a race between candidates from Asia, Africa and Europe.
Infantino, the UEFA general secretary, and Sheikh Salman appear to be the candidates with the most support. Although Prince Ali of Jordan earned 73 votes in last year’s presidential vote against Blatter, he is considered to be an outsider this time. Ahmad joined FIFA’s executive committee last year after years of building coalitions in the IOC. Though Ahmad publicly rejects the “kingmaker” label, he flashes a smile when asked about it.
“I’m a candidate that’s running for the presidency of FIFA to represent the world,” Prince Ali said. “I’m independent, beheld to no one.” FIFA — which has faced accusations of bribery for decades — has been reeling since May, when the U.S. Justice Department indicted two vice presidents among several men arrested at the last election meeting. Though Sepp Blatter was re-elected, he announced his planned resignation the next week. U.S. authorities have indicted or got guilty pleas from 41 people and marketing agencies in a sprawling investigation that targets Blatter. FIFA itself could be indicted as a racketeering conspirator.
Two candidates are struggling to attract support: Former FIFA official Jerome Champagne and South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale, an anti-apartheid campaigner who was a political prisoner on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela. The other candidates are: Prince Ali of Jordan, who conceded to Blatter after a first-round vote last May; Jerome Champagne of France; and Tokyo Sexwale of South Africa.
“FIFA is a broken house ... (and) needs to repair the damage that’s been done to the brand,” Sexwale said. “It’s severe and very, very painful. Some of the people are incarcerated, some are in jail, some are on the run, some are friends but if crime has been committed then justice must be seen to be done whilst you spare the innocent.” Salman did not try to match promises by Infantino, who wants to add eight nations to build a 40-team World Cup and more than double annual grants. Salman proposed “needs-based” funding by FIFA and a postelection analysis to determine if the World Cup should be expanded.
Investigations into widespread wrongdoing in soccer led to FIFA vice presidents being indicted in the United States and to Blatter hastily deciding to quit in June shortly after being elected for a fifth term. Salman has been the most scrutinized candidate, each of which had to pass integrity vetting by FIFA’s ethics committee.
But Blatter was denied the opportunity to hand over power at Friday’s congress when he was banned in December over a 2011 financial transaction. That ban was reduced from eight to six years on Wednesday. He has strongly denied claims that, after Arab Spring protests in 2011 when he was Bahrain soccer federation president, he helped identify national team players to be detained. They later alleged abuse and torture by government security forces.
UEFA President Michel Platini is serving the same ban for his part in the deal with Blatter. The guilty verdict prevented him from fulfilling his dream of succeeding Blatter, with Infantino taking his place in the contest to run the sport. Ali said Salman, 50, could not gain respect from players and federations worldwide if “you couldn’t even take care of your own.”
UEFA vice president Angel Maria Villar opened the extraordinary congress of Europe’s governing body in Zurich by backing Platini, who is challenging his ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The issue seems less troubling to voters outside Europe — including those in Asia who twice elected him their confederation president.
“Michel Platini continues to work to defend himself to defend his innocence and honor,” Villar, the de facto acting UEFA president, said through a translator. “I firmly believe and hope Michel will be back with us soon.” “It (the election) is about football,” said Gordon Derrick, president of the 25-member Caribbean Football Union, said Thursday. “I have read the claims and read the counter-claims. He has come out and explained himself.”
While Infantino’s globe-trotting campaign has claimed around 70 publicly pledged votes, Salman traveled less and the team behind him cared little for social media.
Leaders of the 54-voter African soccer confederation on Thursday predicted just “one or two rebels” would not vote for Salman, though several more seem possible.
Leaders of 11-member Oceania and 35-voter CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean), have left their voters free to choose.
The 10-member South American group, known as CONMEBOL, is on its third president in nine months thanks to the U.S. indictments. CONMEBOL and its members say they want to unite and be on the winning side. The sheikh’s team says he will crack the region’s public pledges to Infantino.
Champagne, a loyal FIFA staffer in the first 11 years of Blatter’s presidency, has only scattered support worldwide.
“We are facing the risk of a kind of Cold War inside (FIFA),” Champagne told the AP, suggesting postelection strife, between the continents.
The first-round result should come Friday afternoon in Switzerland, after voters first debate and likely approve a reform slate.
Candidates will then file on stage in alphabetical order to make 10-minute speeches. Sexwale, whose campaign was barely visible, will be last up.
Voters then walk to one of two voting booths and mark paper ballots. FIFA will prevent mobile devices in the booths. In previous years, some voters have allegedly shown photos of their votes in return for bribes.
All five candidates can stay in for the possible second round, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated before a third round.
The winner will later face hundreds of accredited global media at a news conference — for Sheikh Salman, the first time he has faced a group of European media since the campaign began.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.