Sexwale kicks off bid to claim FIFA presidency
Print Edition
Aiming to end FIFA鈥檚 鈥渘ightmare鈥, former Robben Island inmate and presidential candidate Tokyo Sexwale was traveling to Egypt yesterday to campaign for support from African soccer leaders.
Africa鈥檚 54 votes 鈥 the largest confederation in FIFA 鈥 is critical to the South African mining tycoon鈥檚 chances of replacing Sepp Blatter as FIFA president.
Sexwale, a former apartheid-era political prisoner alongside Nelson Mandela, will make a presentation to African soccer executives on the second day of their two-day meeting in Cairo today.
The multi-millionaire businessman was making the campaign trip following an invitation from African soccer confederation president Issa Hayatou 鈥 the interim FIFA president.
鈥淚 briefed him about my candidacy,鈥 Sexwale said of his meeting last week with Hayatou in Zurich. 鈥淗e said, 鈥楩ine. You are free to come and make your presentation鈥.鈥
Sexwale is one of eight men to submit papers by Monday鈥檚 deadline to stand in the emergency FIFA presidential election on February 26. The others are: UEFA President Michel Platini; Platini鈥檚 right-hand man, Gianni Infantino; Asian soccer confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa; Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan; former FIFA official Jerome Champagne; Liberian soccer official Musa Bility; and David Nakhid, a former player from Trinidad and Tobago.
Contenders must be nominated by at least five national associations and show an active role in soccer in two of the last five years. Candidates will also face ethics checks.
FIFA was validating the nomination papers yesterday. Ethics prosecutor Cornel Borbely will oversee the integrity checks and then send the files to the ad-hoc election committee chaired by Domenico Scala, who will release an official candidate list next month.
The 62-year-old Sexwale, a current FIFA anti-racism adviser who was appointed by Blatter to also mediate between the Israeli and Palestinian soccer bodies, said at a Johannesburg news conference that the situation at FIFA was 鈥渂eyond worrying鈥.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a nightmare now,鈥 Sexwale said, referring to corruption probes by United States and Swiss authorities that initially prompted Blatter鈥檚 resignation, and the later FIFA ethics investigation that led to the suspensions of Blatter and Platini.
鈥淭hey are now calling it the biggest criminal organization in the world,鈥 Sexwale said. 鈥淲hat has been broken in FIFA is the inability to follow the money. Follow the money. It鈥檚 got traces. It鈥檚 got fingerprints.鈥
Sexwale was a member of the bid and the organizing committees for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which has also come under scrutiny in the American investigation into FIFA corruption.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 affect me as a candidate because I was not involved in the money,鈥 Sexwale said yesterday.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
