Fifa set for game of thrones

Fifa presidential candidates Gianni Infantino (right) and Tokyo Sexwale in a file photo.

Fifa presidential favourites Gianni Infantino and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa embarked on a final scramble for votes Wednesday ahead of the election to lead world football’s scandal-tainted governing body.

The poll is seen as crucial to repairing the organisation’s reputation, which has been battered by a series of unprecedented corruption scandals, but just two days before the vote, protests over the secrecy of ballots have mounted.

Front-runners Infantino — the Swiss-Italian acting chief of European football — and Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, Asian football’s president, have so far stayed clear of the controversy over balloting. Both were in Fifa’s home city of Zurich trying to assemble the coalition of supporters needed to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter and win the most powerful job in world football. But rival candidate Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to suspend Friday’s election.

He has said transparent voting booths must be used to ensure that delegates do not take pictures of their ballots.

“I want this election to occur as soon as possible, but not at the risk of undermining its integrity,” the Jordanian royal said. Jerome Champagne of France, who along with South Africa’s Tokyo.

Sexwale rounds out the list of five presidential challengers, has joined the Jordanian prince’s call for greater transparency.