The battle for the top job in world football
arrived in the United States on Thursday with FIFA presidential contenders
hoping to secure crucial votes from the scandal-tainted governing body for
soccer in the region.
UEFA official Gianni Infantino and Asian chief Sheikh
Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa were both expected to be among the FIFA
presidential contenders giving presentations to members from CONCACAF, which
governs football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
Infantino, a key ally of banned former presidential
hopeful Michel Platini, and Sheikh Salman, the influential head of the Asian
Football Confederation are battling for the right to replace ousted former FIFA
chief Sepp Blatter at elections later this month.
Also in the running are Jordan's Prince Ali bin al
Hussein, South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale and outsider Jerome Champagne.
All five candidates were expected to make presentations
to CONCACAF officials at a hotel in Miami from Thursday to Friday.
It is not known whether the leadership of CONCACAF -
holding a potentially pivotal 35 votes in the FIFA ballot - will call on its
membership to endorse its preferred candidate.
An umbrella group of Central American CONCACAF members,
UNCAF, last month endorsed Infantino's bid to succeed Blatter.
CONCACAF has been at the heart of the global corruption
scandal, with former president Jeffrey Webb and his successor Alfredo Hawit
both arrested last year in separate raids in Switzerland.
Infantino joined the race to replace Blatter in a
February 26 vote following the ban handed down to UEFA supremo Michel Platini.
Infantino has vowed to clean up FIFA if elected after
months of corruption allegations which have plunged the global football body
into the worst crisis in its history.
The UEFA official has planned to introduce 12-year term
limits for senior officials and increase transparency throughout FIFA.
Infantino, who has also secured backing from South
American nations, has also proposed expanding the World Cup to 40 teams and
establishing a "clear rotation" system for hosting the tournament
under which each continent would need to wait for at least two editions before
hosting the event again.
Sheikh Salman of Bahrain meanwhile said last month he
believes the race for the presidency is a straight shoot-out between himself
and Infantino.
"I think Gianni has the support of the (UEFA)
confederation and I think Asia has its candidate. From what I hear, from what I
feel, I think it's between me and him," Infantino said.
With the FIFA vote looming ever closer, the campaign took
an acrimonious turn on Thursday with Jordan's Prince Ali lashing out at the
tactics deployed by his rivals.
Prince Ali condemned efforts by other candidates to
secure block support from regional confederations, urging FIFA's 209-strong
membership to vote as individuals.
"I am not a candidate who tries to use a couple of
executive committees or confederations to push voters in a certain way,"
Prince Ali told reporters in Geneva.
"That is what differentiates me from other candidates...If
other candidates do choose to work on regions and try to divide up the world,
then, yes, I think that is wrong," he added.
Speaking in Geneva, Ali laid out his plans for his first
year on the job, highlighted by his pledge to release former US prosecutor
Michael Garcia's report on alleged bribery and corruption during bidding for
the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
FIFA has not yet released the 2014 report, citing
procedural delays. Garcia resigned in protest, claiming the report was
suppressed.
Ali further said he would install a limit of two,
four-year terms for FIFA's president and executive committee members if
elected.
He also warned that FIFA, wracked by a web of scandals
involving most of its top leadership, was running out of time to implement reform.
"The world is cleaning up FIFA whether FIFA likes it
or not," he said.
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