The deadline for FIFA presidential election candidates to declare they are standing passed Monday night with eight contenders to replace Sepp Blatter.
UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino has stepped forward for the highest position in world football with the unanimous backing of UEFA’s Executive Committee.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Chief Segun Odegbami has cried foul over his failed bid to stand in February’s FIFA presidential election. The 63-year-old former international was unable to win the required backing of five member associations and told The PUNCH that the help offered by the Nigeria Football Federation came too late to be meaningful.
He said, “The NFF only sent their nomination letter to FIFA on Monday afternoon. How was I to get four other countries to back me at the last minute when I am not a magician? I sent my letter in (to the NFF) nearly two months ago and I was the only candidate from Nigeria because Orji Uzoh Kalu never submitted any bid. Why was there this kind of delay?
“I was not running with any other person, despite the grand effort made everywhere to malign me by those who just wanted me to fail. Somebody somewhere made sure I was blocked.”
Odegbami said that NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, was at the Confederation of African Football headquarters in Cairo on Monday where he tried in vain to secure more support for him. He needed endorsement from four other federations.
“My intention was to get them from a few neighbouring countries as soon as I got the nomination through. By the time I was officially informed, the African FA presidents had all assembled in Cairo, Egypt for their scheduled Caf meeting.
“I could not go there at such short notice because I do not have an Egyptian visa. The president of the Nigeria Federation decided he would take up that responsibility and convince his friends in Caf to endorse me. Apparently he did not succeed for whatever reason,” he told the BBC.
Liberian FA boss Musa Bility and the president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, also announced their candidacies on Monday.
They join Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Tokyo Sexwale of South Africa, Jerome Champagne and David Nakhid in the race after they – unlike Zico – were able to obtain five letters of support from FIFA member nations.
A statement from European football’s governing body confirmed Infantino’s candidacy – but that does not mean the end of Michel Platini’s continued participation in the contest to succeed Sepp Blatter.
Platini is currently banned from football, and an investigation into an allegedly “disloyal payment” he received from FIFA remains ongoing.
The election will hold on February 26, 2016.
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The deadline for FIFA presidential election candidates to declare they are standing passed Monday night with eight contenders to replace Sepp Blatter.
UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino has stepped forward for the highest position in world football with the unanimous backing of UEFA’s Executive Committee.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Chief Segun Odegbami has cried foul over his failed bid to stand in February’s FIFA presidential election. The 63-year-old former international was unable to win the required backing of five member associations and told The PUNCH that the help offered by the Nigeria Football Federation came too late to be meaningful.
He said, “The NFF only sent their nomination letter to FIFA on Monday afternoon. How was I to get four other countries to back me at the last minute when I am not a magician? I sent my letter in (to the NFF) nearly two months ago and I was the only candidate from Nigeria because Orji Uzoh Kalu never submitted any bid. Why was there this kind of delay?
“I was not running with any other person, despite the grand effort made everywhere to malign me by those who just wanted me to fail. Somebody somewhere made sure I was blocked.”
Odegbami said that NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, was at the Confederation of African Football headquarters in Cairo on Monday where he tried in vain to secure more support for him. He needed endorsement from four other federations.
“My intention was to get them from a few neighbouring countries as soon as I got the nomination through. By the time I was officially informed, the African FA presidents had all assembled in Cairo, Egypt for their scheduled Caf meeting.
“I could not go there at such short notice because I do not have an Egyptian visa. The president of the Nigeria Federation decided he would take up that responsibility and convince his friends in Caf to endorse me. Apparently he did not succeed for whatever reason,” he told the BBC.
Liberian FA boss Musa Bility and the president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, also announced their candidacies on Monday.
They join Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Tokyo Sexwale of South Africa, Jerome Champagne and David Nakhid in the race after they – unlike Zico – were able to obtain five letters of support from FIFA member nations.
A statement from European football’s governing body confirmed Infantino’s candidacy – but that does not mean the end of Michel Platini’s continued participation in the contest to succeed Sepp Blatter.
Platini is currently banned from football, and an investigation into an allegedly “disloyal payment” he received from FIFA remains ongoing.
The election will hold on February 26, 2016.
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