Football’s world governing body, FIFA, on Wednesday announced it had confirmed seven candidates to run in its election for a new president on February 26.
The candidates proposed are Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Musa Bility, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino, Michel Platini, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Tokyo Sexwale.
Rejected
Former Trinidad and Tobago footballer David Nakhid submitted his candidacy last week, but it was rejected on the grounds that one of the five national football associations he gave as endorsing him had already backed another candidate, a FIFA source told AFP.
Candidates need the backing of at least five of FIFA’s 209 association members before they can be considered.
FIFA said in a press release that, with the exception of UEFA chief Michel Platini, the candidature dossiers would be processed by its electoral committee.
Platini is currently suspended from all football-related activities for 90 days as part of a clampdown on corruption and fraud at the heart of the FIFA operation.
The next step will see the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee review the results of the integrity checks before formally declaring which candidates can stand for the presidency. — AFP