FIFA Pressure Group Seeks Answers from Presidential Candidates

(ATR)#NewFIFANow has asked the five FIFA presidential candidates to nominate their top three priorities to establish what global football issues they will tackle first if elected.

Only three candidates have published manifestos – Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Jerome Champagne and Tokyo Sexwale. Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Gianni Infantino have yet to issue any concrete pledges.

"#NewFIFANow has said consistently that world football's governing body needs more democracy, more transparency and more accountability and this should apply to the FIFA Presidential election also,"said co-founder and British MP Damian Collins.

He said the 30 questions to the candidates were developed on the basis of concerns and expectations expressed internationally – by fans, players, sponsors, other advocacy groups and grassroots volunteers –since the formation of#NewFIFANow 11 months ago.

Questions include who the FIFA contenders would vote for in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups if a new vote was held; whether they would publish total remuneration packages and pecuniary interests for the President and key FIFA executives; whether they would work to recover the money lost to corruption; and how they think FIFA is perceived within the wider community.

"As an example, we know that the kafala system in Qatar is of significant concern to many stakeholders. We also ask the candidates whether they would pursue broader issues like this if they were president," he said.

"The sponsors who contribute so much to world football, amateur and professional players, governments, volunteers and the community who pay their hard-earned money to play the game or go to matches, deserve to know who these men are and what they believe in."

The results of the survey, including non-responses, will be published next month on www.newfifanow.org.

The FIFA candidates are also invited to attend a meeting in Brussels to present their manifestos at the end of January.

Infantino’s bid received a boost after CONMEBOL’s 10 South American football federations announced they would back him in the Feb. 26 FIFA Congress.

CONMEBOL chief Juan Angel Napout said the football associations will vote "as a bloc" for Infantino, who has held face-to-face discussions with South American football leaders in the past two weeks.

Prince Ali has been speaking about his plans to revamp FIFA on his global travels to lobby the 209 football federations who will vote in the February election.

In Japan, he vowed to make publicly available the federation’s financial documents if he lands the top job in world football.

"I will open the books completely. I believe people have a right to know. I think it's a job that has to be recognised and if you want to have accountability, you need to know what's there and therefore you can judge," he was quoted by Reuters."Salaries, finances, what have you, that should all be open. Why not? People want it to be open."

"We have to be transparent – and not in words but in deeds."

Written by Mark Bisson

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