Eight Candidates to Run for FIFA Presidency
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The deadline for FIFA presidential election candidates to declare they are standing has passed with eight contenders to replace Sepp Blatter.
Infantino - Michel Platini's right-hand man for the last six years - announced he would run after receiving the unanimous backing of UEFA's executive committee.
Platini has also submitted his candidacy for the election but is currently banned for 90 days pending a disciplinary hearing into a £1.3million payment signed off by outgoing president Sepp Blatter in 2011.
Another former player, Brazil's Zico, was forced to call an end to his hopes after failing to secure five nominations before the deadline of 11pm GMT, The London Evening Standard newspaper reported on Monday.
The other candidates who have submitted their candidacies are Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the leader of Asian football, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, former Trinidad and Tobago player David Nakhid, former FIFA deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne and Liberian FA president Musa Bility.
A spokesman for South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale, a former anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela, said he has secured the five nominations necessary to run.
Infantino, who is understood to have held talks with senior figures in the Asian confederation about standing, could step down if Platini is cleared of all charges, but otherwise would be a strong candidate in his own right.
"I will in due course be setting out my detailed thinking in a manifesto which will address the challenges and opportunities ahead. 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," Infantino said.
A statement from UEFA's executive committee, which did not mention Platini at all, said that "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 organization on a path of reform to restore FIFA's integrity and credibility."
Infantino is a Swiss lawyer who has worked for UEFA since 2000, becoming its head of legal affairs in 2004.
Sheikh Salman, who is from Bahrain, is a close ally of Olympic powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah from Kuwait.
A member of the Bahrain royal family, he has attracted opposition from human rights organizations due to the regime's role in the suppression of the country's peaceful demonstrations since 2011.
