UEFA’s Infantino to stand for FIFA presidency

UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino is to stand for the presidency of FIFA after receiving the backing of the Executive Committee of European football’s governing body on Monday.

“We are delighted that Gianni has agreed to stand,” said UEFA in a statement.

“Gianni has done a great job at UEFA, has a proven track record as a top class administrator and built positive relations with football stakeholders around the globe,” the statement continued.

“He has been a long-time advocate of the need for change and renewed development at FIFA and would bring a refreshing and informed voice to the top table of football’s world governing body.”

Candidates to run in the election set for February 26 must officially submit their bids by midnight on Monday, and UEFA’s statement added: “(Infantino) is in the process of submitting the required nominations and will issue a statement on his candidacy later today.”

UEFA did not clarify what the Swiss-born Infantino’s candidacy means for Michel Platini, the UEFA president who is also running for the FIFA leadership but is currently serving a 90-day ban from all football-related ativities.

Infantino would become the seventh person to declare for next year’s presidential election as erstwhile favourite Platini remains a contender pending an examination of his candidacy when his ban ends on January 5.

The 49-year-old Bahraini royal Shaikh Salman, the head of the Asian Football Confederation since 2013, has also came forward, with the Bahrain News Agency saying he registered his bid on Sunday.

Another heavyweight candidate to enter the running is Tokyo Sexwale, the 62-year-old South African anti-apartheid campaigner who was once jailed alongside Nelson Mandela on Robben Island on terrorism charges.

Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, the 39-year-old brother of Jordan’s King Abdullah, was the only adversary to Blatter at the election in May this year and can boast that he took the veteran Swiss to a second round of voting before withdrawing.

But on that occasion he had the backing of UEFA, something he is unlikely to get this time following his criticism of Platini as being too closely connected to a “flawed system”.

French former diplomat Jerome Champagne, 57, spent 11 years working for FIFA between 1999 and 2010. Unlike his previous bid in May, he has managed to get the five signatures from national associations needed to enter the race.

But he appears to lack the necessary clout, a problem also faced by David Nakhid, the former Trinidad and Tobago captain who once played for Swiss side Grasshoppers Zurich.