Many Options to Watch the FIFA Congress -- Media Watch

(ATR) One of the most anticipated events in world football history can be seen by anyone with internet access.

On Friday, Feb. 26, FIFA will hold an extraordinary congress to not only vote on its proposed reform package but also to elect the successor to disgraced former president Sepp Blatter.

Five men are competing to replace him: AFC president Sheikh Salman, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino, former FIFA executives Prince Ali and Jerome Champagne and South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale.

The entirety of the congress will be streamed live on FIFA’s YouTube page. Viewers can also catch coverage of the event on Fox Sports 1 and the Watch ESPN app.

Blatter has stood at the top of world football for the last 17 years and had been an executive since 1981. Friday’s election will bring an end to an era that is now largely marred by controversy and corruption.

The FIFA appeals committee recently upheld Blatter’s ban from all football-related activities but reduced the length of the ban from eight to six years due to his "years of service" to the game. The ban will prevent Blatter from attending the congress and getting the send-off he believes he deserves.

The live-stream begins at 8:00 a.m. CET and will cover the congress through the closing press conference. The congress itself begins at 9:30 at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland.

After the procedural items are taken care of, acting president Issa Hayatou will give an address where he will likely once again urge the six FIFA confederations to support the full slate of reforms. Following Hayatou’s address, the organizational reforms for FIFA will be discussed.

The reforms will then be put to a vote by the 207 eligible Member Associations followed by elections for to replace members of FIFA’s judicial bodies. The election of the next president is the 11th item on a 12-point agenda. The congress will close with the newly elected president’s remarks on how he will lead FIFA into the next generation.

A press conference will be held in Hallenstadion immediately after the congress is concluded where many of the top news agencies in the world will be eager to get quotes from the new president.

Media Weighs In on Impending Election

A day before the election many news outlets across the globe are providing insight into what the congress will mean for FIFA’s future.

In an interview with the BBC, English Football Association president Greg Dyke says the vote on the reform package is more important than the election of a new president.

"I think there is an opportunity for FIFA to start again," Dyke tells the BBC. "The reforms are more important than who is the president. The reforms are about the way FIFA conducts its business and I think there is an overwhelming majority of people that want to support those."

In an Op-Ed published in the Wall Street Journal, chief executive of the world’s largest advertising agency, WPP, Martin Sorrell says it’s time for FIFA to "adapt or die".

"If FIFA fails to implement real reform, there is nothing to stop a movement to replace it with an entirely new organization," he says. "For FIFA, the election of a new president on Friday and adoption of reform proposals won’t change things overnight. Real reform requires listening to interested parties and acting on their recommendations when merited."

Chief sports writer for The Telegraph Paul Heyward agrees that FIFA must adapt and that simply "changing the names at the top will not cure the delusional culture that leads to $140 million being spent on a FIFA museum, arguments over transparent voting booths and eight-year bans for Blatter and Michel Platini being reduced to six in ‘recognition’ of services rendered".

Heyward goes on to say that if Sheikh Salman is elected president tomorrow it would only facilitate the organization’s ultimate collapse.

"A victory for Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa would hasten FIFA's demise and allow football to start afresh," he writes.

Outgoing president Sepp Blatter also decided to weigh in on the ensuing election and the reduction of his football ban in an exclusive interview with the New York Times.

"He has avoided making a public endorsement of any candidate in Friday’s election for his successor, but on Thursday he defended the candidacy of Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa," writes Sam Borden and Rebecca Ruiz of the NY Times.

"Mr. Blatter dismissed such allegations, saying they were only being highlighted to 'discredit' Sheikh Salman."

Later in the interview, Blatter insisted that his ban from football will not last.

"This ban of six years, eight years, 20 years -- whatever it is, it will not be upheld by the tribunal. In their ruling, they took out bribery and corruption -- so what is left if there is no bribery and corruption? It’s not logical," Blatter tells the NY Times.

No matter the outcome of tomorrow's congress, one thing is certain: world football will have a very different landscape once the Sepp Blatter era ends.

Written by Kevin Nutley

Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.