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FIFA elections today (AFP - Photo).
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Although UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino appears to be in a two-way battle with Sheik Salman Bin Ebrihim Al Khalif, in the FIFA Presidential election today in Zurich, Alvin Corneal, a technical advisor at the world governing body, feels that Jerome Champagne is the  man whom the region ought to have thrown its support behind.

Apart from the pair, Infantino will also face Prince Ali Hussein and Tokyo Sexwale to head the governing body for world football. 

Corneal, who wears a number of caps in the sport, from ex player to coach, commentators, instructor and now advisor believes Champagne, a Frenchman, has what it takes to take the sport further. “He is passionate about the sport and has the will to stamp out corruption within it, a stance he made at the last election in which he pulled out of the race in the midst of widespread allegations of corruption” Corneal stated. 

Corneal noted that the sport has been mired in corruption and politics which have led to its current state. He was adamant that none of the other candidates appear genuine in their manifestos. 

Of main concern is the benefit that Caribbean islands and the Concacaf will gain from the result today, saying as he examined the manifestos he was sure that only Champagne will ensure that all member countries  receive assistance, both financially and otherwise. 

According to Corneal: “I think all those other countries have become bitter with the Caribbean and Concacaf because of desperate attempts by Blatter—who was suspended by the FIFA, along with Michele Platini —the UEFA president after being found guilty of wrongdoings by a FIFA Independent Ethics Committee, to ensure that poorer countries were assisted with their development.   

Countries were initially given US$500, 000 subvention but this amount was increased to US$750, 000 to include both men and women’s football. However this will not be given to the T&T Football Association which is being led by David John-Williams after FIFA ordered that accounts of the association’s books be submitted if it were to receive the funding. Corneal believes the entire Concacaf and Caribbean faced being sidelined if anyone else but Champagne should emerge victorious today. 

T&TFA president David John-Williams was reported as saying he supported Infantino but Corneal said such a decision will have more consequences than benefits. “It was a decision that could hurt Caribbean football. If all islands are being made to vote independently, it would mean we would lost our bargaining power in voting which people such as Jack Warner and others fought for in the past,” Corneal said. 

Contacted Warner said he was not interested in what happens at the elections. “I do not watch, go, or even speak about football after spending almost 30 years in the sport, and to be treated the way I was,” Warner said.

RELATED NEWS

Soccer Leaders to Elect New FIFA President.
By Graham Dunbar & Rob Harris (AP).


Soccer leaders prepared to elect a new FIFA president on Friday, with Asian confederation head Sheikh Salman of Bahrain the favorite to succeed Sepp Blatter.

Voting was scheduled to begin after 1300 GMT following speeches by the five candidates. No candidate is expected to win in the first round, where 138 votes from the 207 eligible voters are needed for victory.

Sheikh Salman, backed by most voters in Asia and Africa, would likely have the momentum for victory if he gets at least 104 votes. That would be a winning simple majority in the second round.

Gianni Infantino of Switzerland, the general secretary of European governing body UEFA, is expected to be the Bahraini royal's main rival.

The other candidates are: Prince Ali of Jordan, who conceded to Blatter after a first-round vote last year; former FIFA official Jerome Champagne of France; and Tokyo Sexwale, a South African businessman and former anti-apartheid activist.

"You do not deserve leadership marked by controversy ... empty promises, fear and condemnation," Prince Ali said in the first address by the candidates.

Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term in May but, amid escalating corruption scandals, bowed to pressure four days later and announced he would resign. Blatter was subsequently banned for six years for financial mismanagement and was absent Friday after 40 years as a fixture at FIFA meetings.

Before electing FIFA's first new president since 1998, 87 percent of the 207 voting federations passed wide-ranging reforms to protect against corruption and curb the powers of its new president.

Those include preventing presidents from serving more than three four-year terms, reducing their powers and guaranteeing more independent oversight for FIFA's decision-making and spending. The executive committee will be renamed the FIFA Council with more female members while there will be stricter integrity checks will also control top officials.

The vote was taken after the Palestine federation argued for a delay to let the new president lead the process. Blatter ordered the reform review in June after American and Swiss federal investigations hit FIFA.

FIFA and its lawyers hope the reform will help show U.S. prosecutors the soccer body is serious about changing its culture, and protect its status as a victim in the American investigation.

Still, the new era FIFA hopes for will not easily escape the fallout from Blatter's scandal-hit leadership.

"We will set up a FIFA that is more transparent," interim president Issa Hayatou said in a speech. "It will win back the respect of everybody throughout the world."

Sheikh Salman has been the most criticized and scrutinized candidate through the four-month campaign.

The 50-year-old former Bahrain soccer federation president has strongly denied claims that, after Arab Spring protests in 2011, he helped identify national team players to be detained. They later alleged abuse and torture by government security forces.

The winner of Friday's vote will become the ninth elected president in FIFA's 112-year history.

The new president will inherit financial problems provoked by the corruption crisis, and ailing staff morale, detailed by acting secretary general Markus Kattner.

"We are currently $550 million behind our goals," Kattner said, reminding of a conservative budget target of $5 billion revenue from the 2018 World Cup in Russia. "(There is) general uncertainty that is affecting morale of the FIFA team."

FIFA has not signed any new World Cup sponsors since the 2014 tournament in Brazil, and has acknowledged that potential deals were on hold until after the election.

FIFA will publish its 2015 financial report next month. It is expected to show a loss of at least $100 million, dropping cash reserves to $1.4 billion.

Fifa president: Who are the election candidates? When is the vote? How does it work?
By Samuel Stevens  (Independent).[/color]


Everything you need to know ahead of the Fifa extraordinary congress on Friday where Sepp Blatter's successor as president will be determined

Who are the candidates?

Gianni Infantino, 45, Italian/Swiss

Uefa general secretary, joined in 2000 as a lawyer

“Fundamental reforms must be at the heart of Fifa to ensure that it regains the trust of both the football world and the wider public. These reforms need to be structural but also cultural in nature. In this respect, Fifa must demonstrate that it has the strength and determination to reform itself into a modern, well governed, institution which is a worthy leader for the world’s number one sport.”

Headline policy: Expanding the World Cup to upwards of 40 nations, ensuring less reputable football countries are represented.

Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, 50, Bahraini

Asian Football Confederation president and Fifa vice-president

“My track record demonstrates that I can be relied upon to serve associations and the global football community with distinction and to lead Fifa through this critical transition. Starting out as a player, I then worked my way up through the ranks of the Bahrain Football Association to become president. Consequently, I fully understand the daily realities and difficulties faced by associations, clubs and players in everyday football.”

Headline policy: Splitting Fifa into two entities, one for commercial practises and another for footballing operations.

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, 40, Jordanian

President of Jordan Football Association and founder and president of the West Asian Football Federation, former Fifa vice-president

“I know well the challenges faced every day to develop football in countries around the world. I also know Fifa well from the inside, having served as Fifa vice-president and as a member of both the Fifa executive committee and the AFC executive committee for the past four years. Most importantly, I am a straight-forward person with straight-forward ideas and ethics — a person who loves our sport. I believe in uncompromising integrity. In good leadership. In fair play. In a service oriented approach. And in hard work.”

Headline policy: Total development of football around the world, quadrupling the amount of money member associations receive to increase sustainability.

Jerome Champagne, 57, French

Consultant in international football, a former diplomat who worked at Fifa as an executive and advisor to Sepp Blatter for 11 years

“In my view, and as I've written and said many times, we must continue and further improve what has been done well under the mandates of presidents [Joao] Havelange and [Sepp] Blatter: implement development programs, organize Fifa competitions on every continent, and take the correct sports policy decisions (e.g. the exclusion of South Africa because of apartheid in 1976). But we must do more. We must do better. Above all, we must do it differently.”

Headline policy: Strengthening the role of national associations, involving leagues, clubs and players in the decision-making process.

Tokyo Sexwale, 62, South African

Mining businessman, anti-apartheid campaigner and ex-member of the Fifa anti-discrimination task force

“All this occurs in the midst of unprecedented action by law enforcement agencies against several leaders of FIfa. As a presidential candidate, I fully understand that these are difficult times for Fifa, which demands extraordinary and resolute leadership. These events, do not mean the death knell of football, the biggest sport in the world played since time immemorial and still to be played for many generations to come.”

Headline policy: Growing and developing football worldwide, enhancing all nations not just the recognised 'bigger' countries.

How will it work?

Fifa’s 207 eligable member states (Kuwait and Indonesia are excluded) will be invited to vote in alphabetical order in a secret ballot from midday. Prince Ali has called for the governing body to use transparent voting booths after claims some candidates photographed their ballots in the 2015 election - which saw outgoing Swiss president Blatter defeat the Jordanian - to inform interested parties of who they were supporting.

In the first round, there will only be a winner if one candidate secures more than two-thirds of the votes. This appears unlikely, however, owing to the voting habits of various regions, meaning just a straight majority would be enough in the second round of voting.

If there remains a need for a third round to be held, the candidate with the lowest amount of votes in the previous round will be eliminated.

The afternoon’s preliminary agenda has been revealed on Fifa’s website and goes as follows; Welcome, roll call, appointment of scrutineers, suspension or expulsion of a member, approval of the agenda, appointment of the agenda, appointment of five members to check the minutes, president’s address, reform of Fifa’s organisational structure, vote on proposals for amendments to Fifa’s statutes, election of replacement of members or judicial bodies, election of the president and, finally, the president’s closing remarks. In short, it’s going to be a long day, but one which aims to outline how Fifa will deal with accusations of corruption in the new era regardless of who is elected.

Each candidate will have an allotted 15 minutes to address the congregation. It is hoped that voting will commence at around 1.30pm on Friday afternoon but these events are renowned for delays. It is within the bounds of reality, for example, for the various rounds of voting to last into the early evening.

What about the proposed reforms?

Before the presidential election takes place, the 207 eligable Fifa nations will gather for the extraordinary congress to agree and finalise a set of reforms which, it is hoped, will eradicate the chances of another corruption scandal engulfing the organisation. Chiefly among the planned proposals is the intention to set fixed terms for officials and set the benchmark for full disclosure of the payment structure at Fifa.

It is expected that the executive committee will be replaced by a 36-member council designed to set global policies and include at least six female representatives. The proposals need to be approved by at least 75 per cent of the members to be passed. 

Before the election in the summer of 2015, arrests were made at the request of the United States Department of Justice. Many remain under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in co-ordination with Swiss authorities, over corruption allegedly involving more than $150m (£98m) worth of bribes dating back 24 years.

On Wednesday, Blatter and former Uefa counterpart Michel Platini saw their appeals against eight-year bans, for a "disloyal payment" of £1.3m between the pair, rejected but their suspensions were reduced from eight to six years by Fifa's appeals committee.

The candidates' manifestos

Gianni Infantino: Uefa general secretary, supported by the Football Association. 

Prince Ali Al Hussein: Fifa vice-president, runner-up in the previous election. 

Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa: president of the Asian Football Confederation. 

Jerome Champagne: former executive at Fifa from 1999 to 2010. 

Tokyo Sexwale: South African businessman.