By Andrew Warshaw
March 1 – What would have happened if only one or two votes had separated the winner and runner-up in Friday’s FIFA election vote?
It’s a question being widely debated, especially in Arab circles, and one which FIFA will be relieved did not materialise since it could potentially have led to all manner of chaos and confusion.
Gianni Infantino’s triumph over Shaikh Salman and approval of the reforms measures overshadowed Kuwait and Indonesia, both currently suspended, being officially ruled out of the vote leaving 207 of the 209 federations with the job of picking Sepp Blatter’s successor.
Kuwait wanted a separate ballot to take place, before the election, on whether to lift its suspension there and then so that the country could cast its vote. It got its wish, of sorts, but a recommendation by the executive committee to defer a decision to the May congress was passed by 165 votes to 25.
Had the presidential result been tight, the feedback among some delegates at the Hallenstadion was that a protest could have been launched since both countries would have voted for Shaikh Salman.
In a official statement the day before the Congress, the president of the Sport Commission in the Kuwait Parliament, Abdullah Al Mayouf, denounced the exco’s recommendation which it said “puts into question the whole process of good governance in FIFA and the reforms trying to be implemented.”
“The recommendations of the ExCo to delay voting on the decision of the Kuwait suspension until the Congress in May is further proof that there are people at the top trying to manipulate football and clearly outlines the continuous mismanagement within FIFA. Not allowing other members the right to vote to lift this sanction is in conflict with FIFA Statutes.”
“Kuwait’s expectation of a vote was formed based on the fact that the FIFA Statutes themselves – specifically Articles 14 and 22 – stipulate that a vote on the suspension of Kuwait must take place. We eagerly awaited this vote so that the injustice of the sanctions imposed could be reversed through democratic process.”
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