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by Our Sports Desk
MICHEL PLATINI’S right-hand man, Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino, has throw his hat into the ring for the Fifa presidency, it was announced yesterday.
Swiss lawyer Infantino, who has worked at Uefa since 2000, has won the unanimous backing of Uefa’s executive committee as they prepare for the possibility of Platini being banned from standing.
Uefa president Platini has submitted his candidacy for the election but is currently banned for 90 days pending a disciplinary hearing into a £1.3 million payment from Fifa, signed off by president Sepp Blatter in 2011.
Infantino, who could step aside if Platini is cleared of all charges, was backed at an emergency meeting of Uefa’s executive committee yesterday morning.
Uefa said: “The forthcoming election for a new Fifa president represents a crucial moment in the governance of the game and the future of Fifa itself.
“We believe that Gianni Infantino has all of the qualities required to tackle the major challenges ahead and to lead the organisation on a path of reform to restore Fifa’s integrity and credibility.”
Other candidates who have submitted their candidacies are Bahraini Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, the leader of Asian football; Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan; former Trinidad and Tobago player David Nakhid; former Fifa deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne; and Liberian FA president Musa Bility.
A spokesman for South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale, a former anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela, said he has secured the five nominations necessary to run.
Mr Khalifa commands widespread support in Asia and is a close ally of Olympic power broker Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah from Kuwait but has been attack by human rights organisations and trade unions for the torture and suppression of peaceful protesters in 2011.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s former Fifa vice-president Chung Mong Joon has officially withdrawn following his six-year ban imposed by Fifa’s ethics committee.
The deadline for nominations for the February 26 election closed after the Star went to press.
