Team Herald
PANJIM: In a whirlwind itinerary, FIFA President Gianni Infantino will arrive in Goa on Monday to attend the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Extraordinary Congress to elect the additional three members to the FIFA council.
Infantino is undertaking a clean-up of FIFA after a series of corruption scandals and bribery allegations plunged the body into crisis that will see six candidates contest for the FIFA council elections chaired by AFC President Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who earlier arrived in the state.
However, just a day before the AFC Extraordinary Congress, Qatar’s S Al-Mohannadi received a major set-back after FIFA considered him ineligible to contest the elections.
“FIFA has advised the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that, based on the report of the Investigatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, it has decided Saoud A.Aziz Al-Mohannadi (Qatar) is not eligible to stand in the elections for the FIFA Council,” says the AFC website.
Altogether, six candidates will vie for the three seats, out of which one is reserved for women. China PR’s Zhang Jian, Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ali Kafashian Naeni and Signapore’s Zainudin Nordin will contest for the seat.
With one seat reserved for a female council member Australia’s Moya Dodd stands favourite while Bangladesh’s Mahfuza Ahkter and DPR Korea’s Han UN Gyong will also battle for the seat.
The FIFA chief is also expected to interact with the delegates and release the logo for the 2017 Under-17 World Cup besides the new logo of the AIFF.
Infantino is expected to return to the FIFA headquarters in Switzerland the same day, an AIFF official said.
The AFC President, Shaikh Salman, had earlier said, “After successfully hosting the AFC U-16 Championship 2016 they (Goa) are confident that they will provide the setting for a hospitable and excellent AFC Congress, considering their infrastructure and experience in hosting major sporting events.”
Shaikh Salman also stressed the importance of the AFC Extraordinary Congress where three additional members representing Asia will be elected to the FIFA Council. He concluded by wishing all the candidates the very best in their respective campaigns to win the trust of AFC’s Member Associations.
