FIFA ExCo Urges Reforms Passage; CAS Rules Against Prince Ali

(ATR) The FIFA Executive Committee is pushing for passage of the federation’s full slate of proposed reforms when they come up for a vote during Friday’s Extraordinary Congress.

"The approval of the reforms will send a strong message that we have listened and that we are taking the action necessary to regain trust and improve our performance," FIFA’s acting president Issa Hayatou said in a statement on Wednesday.

The reforms, unanimously approved by the Executive Committee in December, include term limits and the creation of a FIFA Council to replace the Executive Committee as part of an effort to separate political and management functions for the organization.

After voting on the reforms, FIFA’s member associations will elect a new president to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter, who on Wednesday saw his eight-year ban for ethics violations reduced to six years on appeal to FIFA. He will still not be allowed to attend Friday's Congress.

There are five candidates in the running for president with UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino and Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman of Bahrain seen as the two frontrunners. Former FIFA vice president Prince Ali of Jordan, former FIFA official Jerome Champagne and South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale make up the rest of the field.

The FIFA Executive Committee revealed on Wednesday that there will be only 207 of the 209 member associations eligible to vote for the new president. Kuwait and Indonesia are currently suspended and the Executive Committee is recommending that their cases not be considered until the next ordinary FIFA Congress in Mexico on May 12-13.

Wednesday’s FIFA statement also included this line: "Acting FIFA Secretary General Markus Kattner provided an update on the challenging financial situation."

No other details were forthcoming but Sheikh Salman, a member of the finance committee, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that FIFA is expecting losses for the 2015-18 World Cup cycle of $560 million. He says the losses will be paid for by FIFA’s cash reserves, which in 2014 were reported to be $1.523 billion.

CAS Rules Against Prince Ali Request

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Wednesday rejected Prince Ali’s request for provisional measures for Friday’s presidential vote.

Prince Ali was seeking "an order that FIFA be directed to use transparent voting booths, as well as independent scrutineers, in order to safeguard the integrity of the voting process and to ensure that the vote is conducted in secret."

He released a statement following the ruling.

"I advocated for transparent voting booths on behalf of FA Presidents who want to vote their conscience, without worrying that someone with a different agenda is looking over their shoulder. I fought for them at FIFA and at CAS, and brought transparent booths to Zurich to eliminate any excuse for not using them.

I have done all I can. I regret that the system let us down. 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."

Infantino Leads in Unofficial Polling Ahead of Election

Gianni Infantino is the choice for FIFA president among the 100 member associations who revealed their choice to AFP.

The French press agency says it contacted all 209 members and received responses from 161 of them. But only 100 actually admitted who they were backing.

Of those 100, 68 of them believe Infantino is the man to lead FIFA. Sheikh Salman was second with 28 votes with Prince Ali garnering the other four votes. Champagne and Sexwale were shut out.

The interesting part of this admittedly inexact poll: Sheikh Salman has the support of the 46-member AFC and the 54-member CAF but was only publicly supported by 28 associations.

Written by Gerard Farek

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