FIFA Archives - Page 163 of 229 - Inside World Football

Exclusive: Bility to call for FIFA congress to put presidential vote before reform vote

Musa Bility

By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 25 – Hopes of FIFA’s much-trumpeted reform measures being approved at tomorrow’s electoral congress have suffered their first potentially serious hitch. Just as Cameroon’s acting FIFA president Issa Hayatou passionately urged the six confederations to rubber-stamp the far-reaching proposals in order to save the organisation’s reputation, so the head of one of his own African federations threatened to throw a major spanner in the works.

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Belize’s Vicente arrives in Zurich to vote but his exco claims he has been suspended

Ruperto Vicente

By Mark Baber
February 25 – Football Federation of Belize President, Ruperto Vicente, voting in tomorrow’s FIFA election in Zurich, has been suspended according to his Executive Committee, although he claims the suspension is not legal. FIFA and CONCACAF are yet to rule on the matter.

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Platini openly backs Infantino and vows to fight the FIFA ‘bureaucrats’

Michel Platini21

By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 25 – Banned UEFA president Michel Platini insists he will do everything he can to clear his name as he accused those now in charge of FIFA of being “bureaucrats” who engineered his downfall after seeing his eight-year suspension reduced by two years by the FIFA Ethics Committee.

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No Congress for ‘old’ men: Blatter and Platini lose appeals

Blatter and Platini

By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 25 – Any chance of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini making a triumphant fist-pumping return to football at Friday’s eagerly anticipated FIFA electoral congress were crushed today after their respective bans for breaking ethics rules were upheld on appeal.

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CAS turns down Ali request to suspend vote, all eyes now on the voters

Voting booth

By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 25 – An unholy spat that for a short while threatened to throw Friday’s election of a new FIFA president into chaos has been averted after sport’s supreme court as expected rejected a bid to call off the ballot from Prince Ali bin al-Hussein.

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CONMEBOL block vote flakes as Brazil reconsiders support for Infantino

By Paul Nicholson in Zurich
February 25 – The FIFA presidential voting alignments took an unexpected shift today with Brazil rumoured to be moving their allegiance away from UEFA’s candidate Gianni Infantino towards Bahraini Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa.

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Prince Ali says he is in it to win it and will stay to the end

Prince Ali Al bin-Hussein

By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 24 – Prince Ali bin al-Hussein says he will not pull out of the Fifa presidential race if the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejects his bid to have Friday’s election postponed in the escalating row over voting procedures.

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Collins butts heads with Salman and calls for England to boycott World Cup bids

Shaikh Salman4

By Paul Nicholson
February 24 – Shaikh Salman has responded immediately to an attack on his integrity by British Conservative member of parliament Damian Collins who used the legal protection of parliamentary privilege in the House of Commons to launch a series of accusations against Salman.

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Infantino says reform package must be backed and then implemented, fast

Infantino4

February 24 – Gianni Infantino says FIFA has no future unless it cleans up its image after Friday’s presidential election.

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Salman keeps focus on FIFA’s finances and promises new money

Shaikh Salman11

By Paul Nicholson
February 24 – Shaikh Salman Bin Al Khalifa has kept the FIFA political focus on financial issues to the front of the election agenda by repeating his belief that FIFA could not afford the $5 million per federation promise being made by Gianni Infantino.

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A transparency question: Ali keeps pressure on polling booth issue to keep votes secret

Prince Ali Al bin-Hussein

By Andrew Warshaw
February 24 – The row over voting procedures at Friday’s FIFA presidential election has taken another remarkable step with Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein writing to the entire FIFA membership to explain why he has called on the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to consider postponing the ballot unless fairness and transparency can be guaranteed.

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Salman confident of support despite ‘desperate’ critics

Shaikh Salman4

February 23 – Shaikh Salman Bin Al-Khalifa, believed to be tied neck and neck with Gianni Infantino to become FIFA president, says rival candidates who have been criticising him are simply getting desperate.

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Polling booth battle: Prince Ali calls on CAS to suspend election vote

Voting booth

By Andrew Warshaw
February 23 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein has called on the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to postpone Friday’s presidential election because of a dispute over voting procedures which he believes could seriously jeopardise his chances of victory.

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Champagne questions FIFA favours for UEFA and AFC election day observers

jerome Champagne

By Andrew Warshaw
February 23 – First mobile phones and cameras were banned, then a request for transparent booths was rejected. Now, amid intensifying suspicion about voting manipulation, a complaint has been submitted by one of the five FIFA presidential candidates over the number of observers attached to rival teams being allowed to attend Friday’s showdown.

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Picking sides? Sexwale and Infantino buddy up on Robben Island

Infantino and Sexwale

By Paul Nicholson
February 23 – The first concrete signs of dealmaking between candidates in the FIFA presidential election race became evident yesterday following a meeting between South African candidate Tokyo Sexwale and UEFA’s top gun Gianni Infantino, with Sexwale saying he is “open to negotiations and alliances”.