By Andrew Warshaw
October 13 – No candidates from outside football will be eligible under current regulations to become the next FIFA president despite growing calls, including from International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, for an external contender to be put in place to herald a fresh start after the worst corruption crisis in sporting history.
Bach has called for a “credible external presidential candidate of high integrity, to accomplish the necessary reforms and bring back stability and credibility” while a raft other high-ranking sports officials and politicians, as well as a healthy bunch of commentators, have also called for a complete break with the past.
The deadline for nominations for February’s election is October 26 but those hoping for someone of high regard outside the game to take charge of FIFA permanently from that date will be disappointed.
Eligibility rules for president, reflected in the statutes, state categorically that all candidates “shall have played an active role in association football …for two of the last five years before being proposed as a candidate.”
Insideworldfootball has learned that statutes can only be changed by a full FIFA Congress. That means anyone lobbying for power based on an October 26 deadline and a February 26 election must do so under the current rules. Even if they are changed, they cannot apply retrospectively.
With Michel Platini suspended (though technically he could be cleared by then) and South Korea’s Chung Mong-joon banned, few heavyweight candidates are left in the race – at this point anyway. This is one of many conundrums the FIFA executive committee will have to tackle next week when postponing the election will be high on the agenda.
Another is the fact that if the election is postponed until FIFA’s mid-May congress in Mexico to allow for the revelant statutes to be changed so that outside candidates can come forward, that would string things out until September before Blatter’s successor could take charge since those nominated must be given a minimum of four months to campaign.
One high-ranking FIFA executive committee source told Insideworldfootball such a scenario would be a non-starter.
“The president is suspended, the general secretary is suspended. The IOC head may be calling for an outsider to come in and fix up the mess but we cannot allow this vacuum to continue unless absolutely necessary,” the source said.
“By postponing, you are changing an electoral process in mid-stream. Just as importantly, you are pre-judging the unsuitability of the internal field before the nominations have even closed. There may well be other as yet unannounced candidates.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1735876372labto1735876372ofdlr1735876372owedi1735876372sni@w1735876372ahsra1735876372w.wer1735876372dna1735876372