FIFA Confirm February Election Date; Platini Candidacy in Doubt

The FIFA Executive Committee has confirmed the FIFA presidential election will still go ahead on 26 February.

The decision was taken at the FIFA ExCo extraordinary session in Zurich on Tuesday.

The governing body has also thrown UEFA president Michel Platini’s candidacy to become the next president of FIFA in serious doubt. 

Domenico Scala, chairman of the FIFA Ad-hoc Electoral Committee stated that “candidacies for the FIFA Presidency that are submitted in due time and form, but which relate to candidates who are subject to a (provisional or definite) ban from taking part in any football-related activity, will not be processed by the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee as long as such ban is valid and in force”.

However, if the Frenchman’s ban is lifted before the election takes place he may still be able to run.

Scala added he “would decide, depending on the respective exact point in time, on how to proceed with the candidacy concerned”.

“I was pleased to see unity among the Executive Committee members during our discussions of reform and its critical importance to our organisation and world football. Increasing the transparency of ethics investigations is just one example of our firm commitment to change,” said Acting FIFA President Issa Hayatou.

“It was also significant that we set the course for the upcoming presidential election.”

Reform Committee

The 2016 FIFA reform committee has recommended a number of changes “to effect lasting change on the organization and to restore FIFA’s reputation”.

This includes 12-year term limits for FIFA presidents, an age limit of 74 and a “disclosure of individual compensation on an annual basis of the FIFA President, all FIFA Council members, the General Secretary and all chairman of independent standing and judicial committees”.

The reform committee has also suggested that the FIFA Executive Committe should be renamed as the “FIFA Council” to “reflect its more appropriate function”.

They state that the Executive Committee “should oversee strategic matters and have a supervisory role over standing committees and FIFA administration. It should not have 2 executive powers over policies of FIFA”.

In other decisions taken by the Executive Committee today, Ángel María Villar Llona has been appointed as acting chairman of the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup and Acting President Issa Hayatou has assumed the position of acting chairman of the FIFA Emergency Committee.

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