WHO BECOMES FIFA'S NEXT PRESIDENT??


Back then in secondary school, I was a very active student. Yes active in all ramifications, except in 'chasing' girls (I wasn't 'chasing' boys though).
I was particularly more active in quiz and debates competitions. Every time we had a quiz competition, I read almost anything my eyes could see. From Quran to Bible, from note books to textbooks and even bill boards. Who knows, there could just be a question like, 'what's the slogan of Tom-Tom?’
So everything had to be read. I remember that current affairs magazines was also one of those magazines I often use to prepare for the competition, and every single current affair magazine I read, Sepp Blatter was the name of FIFA's president.
At a time I began to think that Sepp Blatter is the title given to anyone who becomes FIFA's president, just like anyone who became a king in Egypt was titled Pharaoh.
I was wrong. Sepp Blatter was and still is the personal name of FIFA's current president who was elected to that 'throne' in 1998.
How long has he been president? Wait!!! I have to get my 'calculator' (sorry I can't find it). You do the Math.
May 29 is the day for yet another presidential election. Would Blatter be re-elected or maybe I should say re-anointed because it’s seem being FIFA's president is his 'calling', OR would he be 'dethroned'?

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the 2015 FIFA presidential election contestants.
In no special order;

HRH PRINCE ALI BIN AL-HUSSEIN.
The Jordanian prince, aged 39, has Since 6 January 2011 been the Vice President of FIFA for Asia with an impeccable reputation and track record, even though it's unlikely that he'll be a part of FIFA much longer if he doesn't win. The Asian confederation is being reformed and is now run by Blatter loyalists, who will no doubt punish him for running.
Prince Ali has the backing of much of Europe, though, although not Russia – which owes Blatter one for the 2018 World Cup – and Eastern Europe, which may be in his (or Russia's) debt in some other way. Ali's campaign focused on change, football ideals, and uniting and raising the profile of Asian countries, within FIFA and generally. Prince Ali successfully championed the lifting of FIFA's ban on the hijab in women's football. Ali was one of a number of FIFA officials to call for the publication of the Garcia Report into allegations of corruption surrounding Russia and Qatar's bids for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.
Prince Ali is regarded as the first credible challenger to Blatter's throne.
In his own words:
"All I care about is the sport and not the politics. I’m not there to show myself or to have a position, I’m all about the work...I think that as with any organization we need to evolve. It’s not just a matter of saying that financially we’re ok and that everything’s fine. No. I think that there’s a lot of work that can be done and needs to
be done, and I’m committed to doing it"
Uefa president Michel Platini said Prince Ali has "all the credibility required to
hold office."

Chances of winning:
Prince Ali is in with a strong shout, but will need to win over the support of
associations from outside Europe - particularly in his own Asia confederation - if he is to topple Blatter.
I wish him the very best.

MICHAEL VAN PRAAG.
Doesn't sound familiar, yes I know. But familiar or not, Michael van Praag (born 28
September 1947 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch sports director, former chairman of Ajax
Amsterdam and the current chairman of the Royal Dutch Football Association. Van Praag is also a member of the Executive Committee of UEFA, the chairman of the
Association Club Competitions Committee and is a deputy chairman of the Hat Trick
Committee.
On 26 January 2015 Van Praag announced his candidacy the day after Blatter
who, in another fit of hubris, dared the Europeans to actually challenge him saying "They don't have the courage to come in."
Van Praag seems to be a on a revenge mission rather than a challenge mission.
However he has a good campaign. "I'm very worried about the deteriorating situation at FIFA. The public opinion, the trustworthiness, is very bad, and with me a lot of people in the world believe so." he said.
Van Praag says he wants to increase the number of World Cup finalists. He also wants to give more money to individual federations – pledging an annual figure of $1 million, four times the current $250,000 – and make football’s world governing body more transparent and accountable. “We see that the stream of negative reports about our FIFA continues. We see reports that are quashed. We see films by and about FIFA which cost €20 million to produce. And we see continuing stories around the allocation of World Cup. That’s not my world football body, that’s not the way the sport to which I owe so much, should be portrayed. Normalization, that’s the key word. The organization must go back to being plain normal.” he said.
The Dutchman, whose campaign is being funded by his country’s FA, also promised to
limit his presidency to one four- year term. Van Praag is also in favor of utilizing technology to help match officials.
Really, is there any who is against utilizing technology?
He also realize that toppling Blatter may only be a dream. In his own words "Everyone expects the small team to lose but sometimes they win."
Ok Mr. 'David', go take down goliath.

Chances of winning:
Almost as slim as Bradford beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

LUIS FIGO.
Yes, it’s the same Figo you know.
The dark horse, making his play right at the very last moment. One of the greatest players of his generation, the former Barcelona, Real Madrid
and Portugal winger revealed he is standing for the presidency with just one day to go before the deadline.
Hey!!! I heard that. You said, being a good player doesn't mean you'd be good at being the Boss of the world's most prestigious game. What does it mean then?
Being a bad player?
NO! No!! No!!!
Anyway, Figo's manifesto has little to do with being a player.

In his own words:
"If you search FIFA on the internet you see the first word that comes out: scandal,
not positive words. It's that we have to change first and try to improve the image of
FIFA. Football deserves much better than this."
I haven't tried to search though.
Perhaps the most radical of Figo’s plans is a potential expansion of the World Cup to either 40 or 48 teams, significantly increasing the 32-nation tournament. In both cases the additional sides would be weighted towards non-European countries and
the competition would be extended by three to four days. If 48 countries
qualified, there would be two 24-team tournaments across two continents.
Van Praag also included that point in his manifesto. Four years from now, can we expect FIFA presidential candidates to be offering 48 or 64 team finals in exchange for support? One never knows!
Figo also proposes to reduce FIFA’s cash reserves from $1.5bn (£971m) to $500m, redistributing the $1bn surplus across all 209 member associations, arguing that there is no need to keep so much in the bank. He also intends to increase money invested into grassroots projects, pledging to inject half of FIFA’s $2.5bn revenue over four years into grassroots.
Figo vowed to implement a zero- tolerance policy towards racism following a recent development in which a group of Chelsea supporters aimed racist chants
at a black man whom they refused to allow on to the Paris Métro after their
Champions League match with Paris Saint-Germain, an incident that has been condemned by the club.
Hallo Chelsea fans, no hard feelings.
His other manifesto proposals include:
Removing the triple punishment for those sent off for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity in the penalty area, who also concede a spot-kick and pick up a suspension; increasing the use of technology in the game;
introducing sin-bins for unsporting behavior; and reverting to the old offside rule, whereby a player is judged offside whether directly involved in play or not.
In his manifesto, on the page next to Figo’s glittering playing CV, is the
quote: “My focus as FIFA president will be to make sure more children, boys and girls, get the same opportunity I had. Better infrastructures, more training. It is
time for me to give back to the world of football everything it gave to me.”
Now that's touching.
However, Figo’s task is not to win the hearts of the footballing public, but to convince those who will need more than big words and bold promises.
Figo has already received high-profile support from David Beckham, José Mourinho and others. HE HAS MY UNSOLICITED SUPPORT TOO.

Chances of winning: Hard to say at this early stage, but if UEFA really is plotting to draw votes away from Blatter by offering a number of multitude of other candidates, Figo's worldwide popularity and history in the game could see him pushed to the fore.




SEPP BLATTER.
Come on, you surely don't need an introduction to arguably the most controversial figure in world football.
In May, Sepp Blatter will stand for a fifth term as the grand poohbah of FIFA, world soccer's Perpetual Crisis Machine which mass-produces controversy.
Blatter (78) who joined FIFA in 1975 and rose to president in 1998, has been the Engine of those crises and controversies. The pint-sized president has ruled with an iron (albeit tiny) fist. Any man to cross him soon feels the wrath of his immense, crooked power, but so long as you play ball with him, anything goes.
Under Blatter's unwatchful eye, there have been endless scandals of corruption and graft during decades of hijinks and tomfoolery, culminating in the naked selling of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.
In a perfect illustration of FIFA's modus operandi, an investigation into the allocation
of those World Cups, commissioned by FIFA itself and carried out by former U.S.
attorney Michael Garcia, was never published. Instead, FIFA's so-called Ethics Committee released a summary of findings. Garcia objected virulently to its
conclusions and characterizations, claiming they misrepresented his report. When
his appeal to those conclusions – heard by the very people who had compiled them – was rejected, he resigned in protest.
To that backdrop, Blatter, who of course wasn't even mentioned in the conclusions of the summary of the self-imposed reckoning of FIFA's affairs, will be on the ballot for the May 29 vote. And those unfortunate souls who have paid close attention in recent years are getting flashbacks to the ugly scenes that unfolded in 2011 before his last re-election.
Back then, his only real rival, Mohamed Bin Hammam, was shunted from FIFA days before the votes were to be cast. The Qatari stood accused of bribery, withdrew from the race and was banned for life. The man to call out his alleged bribery, the
American then-executive committee member and CONCACAF general secretary
Chuck Blazer, has since also been ostracized from FIFA on account of corruption, as has his long- time ally, then-CONCACAF president Jack Warner.
In 2011 Blatter ran unopposed, as the only other candidate, Mohammed bin Hammam of Qatar, withdrew from the presidential race on 28 May, just before the vote.
On 1 June, Blatter was re-elected president for a fourth term, with 186 of the 203
votes in his favor. In his campaign, Blatter had stipulated that, if re-elected in 2011, he would not run again for president.
Don't ask me what's happening now.
And he's probably going to get re-elected.
Blatter enjoys huge supports from of the traditionally "smaller" member nations in the Asia, Africa and South America confederations who have all been well served by the Swiss during his four terms in office and have signaled their intention to back him again.
In his campaign, Blatter will likely say, 'If I couldn't be won in 17 years, who can win me now'?
Chances of winning: Very high. Blatter has a vice-like grip on global football power and it well take some doing before he lets go.
It’s sad to say that your votes doesn't count...yes you reading this.



Photo credit. afp

Anybody but blatter- he has proven that when you stay in a public office for too long, you begin to feel/act as if it is your personal business.

#time for blatter to go