Fifa presidential candidate Prince Ali Al Hussein of Jordan at the extraordinary congress in Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday. (Photo: AP)
Fifa presidential candidate Prince Ali Al Hussein of Jordan at the extraordinary congress in Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday. (Photo: AP)
World soccer’s governing body Fifa will proceed with an election to pick a new president on Friday to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter and vote on a set of reforms aimed at restoring its credibility after the worst graft scandal in its history.
One candidate had sought to have the vote on a new president delayed but sport’s highest tribunal threw out his request, clearing the way for Fifa to hold its planned extraordinary congress in Zurich.
Fifa urged members to approve its reforms at the congress, including term limits for top officials and disclosure of their earnings, to rebuild trust after several dozen officials were indicted in the United States and a criminal investigation was begun in Switzerland.
Swiss Blatter, whose 18-year tenure officially ends this week, had hoped to attend the Congress but lost an appeal against his eight-year ban for ethics violations, meaning he must stay away. Five candidates are standing to replace Blatter to try to lead Fifa out of its crisis.
In a sign of the level of distrust over the election, candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan had asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to delay the vote on concerns over the voting booths.
Worried that delegates might use their mobile phones to photograph their ballot sheets in a vote which is supposed to be secret, Ali had demanded transparent booths.
His campaign team even had some of the booths flown in and displayed them to the media at a warehouse on the outskirts of Zurich. Nevertheless, CAS rejected his request.
“The only positive aspect of today’s ruling is it that the election will now go forward as planned, and the media will be closely watching for any evidence that anyone is photographing their ballot,” Ali said in a statement.
As Ali’s case was thrown out, another candidate, Jerome Champagne, said he would appeal to CAS over the amount of observers who would be allowed into the congress hall on Friday.
But he did not ask for a postponement of the election itself.
“The election cannot be delayed, it’s just to point the finger at a problem,” the Frenchman said.
Both Ali and Champagne have expressed concern over the fact that Fifa’s continental confederations do not vote but often issue declarations of support for particular candidates, potentially skewing the election results.
