The world’s scandal-ridden football governing body, FIFA, is to elect a new president on Friday to replace its disgraced former head, Sepp Blatter, who has been banned from the sport for 8 years.
However one of the 5 contenders in the election to assume this poisoned chalice, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, has already demanded greater transparency – quite literally – in the voting process to be used by the FIFA officials from 209 countries who are gathering in FIFA’s Swiss HQ in Zürich for the ballot.
Prince Ali has insisted upon see-through voting booths to prevent voters taking photos of their completed ballots to prove how they voted – the fear being corrupt individuals need to prove they have voted as instructed by their fixers.
In response to the Prince’s request FIFA agreed to mobile phones being banned in the booths but they will trust their delegates to be honest and not smuggle in concealed phones. So Prince Ali’s lawyers have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), also based in Switzerland, in an attempt to have Friday’s elections postponed.
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein is in the race between five candidates. While Prince Ali is assessed to have a clean record, many of his competitors have been mired in allegations of corruption. Tokyo Sexwale, a South African diamond entrepreneur, has been questioned in connection with bribery at the South African World Cup in 2010.
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa is a member of the Bahraini royal family, and has been accused of siphoning funds, whilst his ruling family have stood accused of using severe tactics against dissident Shia protesters including Bahraini sports players . Damian Collins, a British MP and member of the ‘New FIFA Now’ campaign group accused the Sheikh of corruption in a speech at the House of Commons. Skeikh Salman is alleged to have looted a development fund to finance to finance his failed bid for a 2009 election to the FIFA executive committee, and his successful run for president of the Asian Football Confederation in 2013.
Sheikh Salman has also been accused in complicity in the torture of footballers in his native Bahrain. It has been alleged that the Sheikh helped to identify footballers that had been involved in pro-democracy protests in 2011, a claim which he rubbished as “false, nasty lies.”
The close relationship Jérôme Champagne, a French former diplomat and executive at FIFA from 1999 to 2000, has with shamed former UEFA president Michel Platini has cast a shadow over his candidacy. Platini was banned for eight years following a recent ethics investigation, and Champagne’s associations may cast doubt on his suitability for the role. The final contender, Gianni Infantino, the Swiss-Italian general secretary of UEFA, is seemingly the only candidate who brings with him a clean bill of health, as far as is known.
“I want this election to occur as soon as possible, but not at the risk of undermining its integrity. The transparent voting booths are now in Zürich and available for use in Friday’s election. The eyes of the world are on this election. Everything must be done to ensure that its integrity is intact,” said Prince Ali.
The vote is expected to go ahead as planned on Friday.
