Fifa presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein has asked for Friday’s election to be suspended in a dispute over voting procedures.
The Jordanian’s lawyers say they are seeking “provisional measures” from the Court of Arbitration for Sport to postpone the vote to select Sepp Blatter’s successor.
The lawyers say in a statement that Fifa turned down Prince Ali’s request for the use of transparent voting booths in the election. They say the decision will deny “any right to a fair and transparent voting process.”
The statement says Prince Ali took the matter to CAS on Monday and the 40-year-old already plans to test Fifa’s resistance to the transparent booths by having some sent to Zurich prior to Friday’s vote.
Fifa, which is this week expected to vote in wide-scale reforms to ensure openness and guard against the corruption which has engulfed it in recent times, insists it is sufficient for delegates from the 209 voting nations to hand over cameras and mobile phones before entering the booths at Hallenstadion in Zurich.
Prince Ali is one of five candidates in the race, with Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino, Tokyo Sexwale, Jérôme Champagne also in the running.
Sheikh Salman, the Asian Football Confederation president, and Infantino are considered the favourites to succeed Blatter, who first became Fifa president in 1998.
Blatter, meanwhile, is expected to receive the verdict of his appeal against an eight-year ban for conflicts of interest. Blatter hopes to be cleared of wrongdoing so he could host the Fifa presidential election on Friday to pick his successor.
Blatter and Michel Platini were banned by the Fifa ethics committee in December over a “disloyal payment” of 2m Swiss francs to the former France midfielder in 2011.
Both men claim they had a verbal agreement for Fifa to pay Platini an additional salary for his work as Blatter’s presidential adviser from 1999-2002. Fifa ethics prosecutors have counter-appealed to seek life bans for both men.
Blatter is expected to publish a book about his life at Fifa in the coming days, entitled ‘Sepp Blatter: Mission Football.’ The 300-page, hardcover book was written by his spokesman, Thomas Renggli and will cost £35.
“Despite the success, Blatter repeatedly had to put up with harsh reviews and prejudices,” the publisher’s preview said. “In this richly illustrated book, Sepp Blatter tells how he learned to deal with the hostility.”
(Guardian service)
