Fifa presidential candidates: can any of these men clean up

[Sir X]

If a week is a long time in politics, then the cliche has recently been extended for the febrile, insular, double-dealing, ever-shifting world of its sporting sibling. As world football cries out for a new start, the eight candidates who have lined up to reconstruct the discredited Fifa that Sepp Blatter built come with enough baggage to put an airport terminal to shame.

Rewind a month and amid the wreckage of the US and Swiss corruption investigations Michel Platini was the odds-on favourite to replace his one-time mentor in Zurich.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...ght-candidates

[Sir X]

The submission date for candidates running for election as the next FIFA president passed Monday, and eight names garnered the required backing from five member associations to stand (Brazilian great Zico, however, was not one of them). FIFA has been determined that the election will take place at the next congress meeting scheduled for February 26 in Zurich. At least we know that there will be no Frank-Underwood-House-of-Cards-style reverse maneuver from Sepp Blatter, who is currently suspended for 90 days by the ethics committee that he set up.

Suspended UEFA president Michel Platini received the same sanction, and FIFA’s electoral committee has yet to rule whether it will allow him to stand. So he is on the eight-man list, for now, but may not last the distance. Given the last six months at FIFA, there is bound to be another twist in the tale before election day.

Here is a rundown of the eight men insisting they are good and true:

http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2015...-sheikh-salman