Fingers crossed

Manama : Finally the decision will be made sometime this afternoon when it comes to D-Day for the five candidates who are standing in a landmark election to see who will be the new FIFA President, on the final day of the FIFA Extraordinary Congress 2016 at the Hallenstadion in Zurich.

There will be speeches and various addresses from many of the FIFA hierarchy and the five candidates including Bahrain’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, will have 15 minutes each to push their credentials before the vote by the 209-nation body in the afternoon.

The business end of the congress is due to start at about 12:00 GMT (3pm Bahrain time) and a winner will be declared (in theory) by around 8.30pm Bahrain time.

Shaikh Salman is one of the two favoured candidates with huge support expected from the AFC nations and is set to battle it out with Gianni Infantino, the 45-year old UEFA general secretary, who has reportedly made gains in recent weeks. He also has strong support in Europe, South America and the Caribbean and sizeable support from the African block.

Whoever wins is set to replace the 79-year old five-term Swiss Sepp Blatter as President, who was forced to stand down on June 2 last year amidst claims of widespread corruption allegations. 

He had earlier won a fifth consecutive term in late May beating 40-year old Jordanian Prince Ali bin Hussein who is standing again.

The other candidates are former Fifa Deputy general secretary and French diplomat Jerome Champagne and South African businessman and former MP Tokyo Sexwale.

Meanwhile Acting Fifa President Issa Hayatou of Cameroon said he believes this week’s presidential election and reform measures can “signal a new dawn” for the beleaguered organisation.

Speaking to representatives from 41 CONCACAF member countries at a Zurich hotel, he said, “This is our opportunity to show that we are united in building a stronger Fifa. It is crucial that we all unite behind the successful candidate after the election.”

Hayatou and Acting Secretary General Markus Kattner also attended the meetings of all the six confederations in Zurich that habitually took place around FIFA Congresses.

A winner must be declared tomorrow with 207 eligible voters as Kuwait and Indonesia are currently barred from taking part. In the first round, the winner needs two-thirds of the available votes. If no candidate achieves that, then a simple majority (104 from 207) is all that is required to win.

If there is still no winner, then a third round will take place and the candidate with the fewest votes in round two would drop out at this point.

Meanwhile, The Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) invited all its staff to attend the deciding elections to support Shaikh Salman. BOC general secretary Abdulrahman Askar has welcomed all the committee representatives to gather at the Downtown Rotana Hotel in Manama today.

The BOC wished him success in the most vital challenge of his career, in line with the directives of Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Work and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, and President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee.