Blatter’s Replacement

Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein Confident He Will Replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA President

The waters have been dirtied. And there’s no going back now, but a new FIFA President will hopefully usher in a new term of transparency.

In the running are several hopeful candidates, but there is one standout candidate in the race for presidency on February 26, 2016.

In the running to replace long-term president, Sepp Blatter is the Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, who was beaten by the 79-year-old back in May. Blatter won the vote by 133-73 votes during the FIFA Congress held in Zurich.

We all know what followed that re-election. FIFA Executive Chuck Blazer was unceremoniously “thrown under the bus” which led him to admitting to 10 criminal charges varying from money laundering to bribery.

While Blazer is cooperating with the FBI and the U.S. justice department, he could still face up to 75-years in prison for the many football-related corruption charges he faces.

With the elections nearly upon us, Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein is steadfast in his chances of winning the presidency.

He told Reuters: “I am confident that I can win the election because I believe I have the best ideas for what the future of FIFA should be and I have full faith and confidence in our national associations. I feel much more confident with the national associations now because I can see they feel that a weight has been lifted off their shoulders.”

There have been many changes in the way the voting landscape will take place since May’s elections.

Two days prior to the last election the FBI descended upon Zurich to arrest the 14 FIFA officials to send ripples through the soccer world.

It was a dark week for FIFA and sport in general, and under that cloud, Blatter still managed to win the election.

Although, Blatter was to step down 4 days later after being reelected FIFA President, and he now finds himself suspended from office.

Blatter will not stand for reelection for obvious reasons, but it’s also worth noting that his appeal to lift his suspension has been turned down by FIFA.

Which has left the Swiss native in a state of uncertainty about his future.

While we could well be ushering in a new era when it comes to FIFA, there will be a huge responsibility on Prince Ali if he does win the election.

Every move will be scrutinized and every financial transaction will be monitored with a fine toothcomb.

There will also be wholesale changes initiated if he gets elected and reform will be expected.

Along with Prince Ali the following candidates will stand for election on February 26, 2016:

Jerome Champagne (former FIFA official)
Gianni Infantino (UEFA General Secretary)
Tokyo Sexwale (South African businessman)
Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (Asian Football Confederation President)