FIFA's member associations have proposed four candidates for the presidential elections to take place in Zurich on May 29. The four are: the incumbent, Sepp Blatter; HRH Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, the Vice President of FIFA for Asia; Luis Figo, the retired Portuguese footballer; and Michael van Praag, former chairman of Ajax Amsterdam and the current chairman of the Royal Dutch Football Association.
Maradona: ““That is what annoys someone like me, who has played in four World Cups. I was chasing the ball, Blatter is chasing champagne.”
— Warrick de Large (@SouthpawAFC) May 5, 2015
Amid allegations of bribery over the awarding of the 2022 world cup to Qatar, journalists from the German TV company ARD were detained while filming a documentary in the Middle Eastern state. They were trying to expose the persona of Blatter, who has been president of FIFA since 1998.
The documentary team suggest that Blatter used his influence to gain the backing of the African nations and that he is now using his power to secure another four-year term as FIFA president.
In the documentary, Blatter was described as a huge figure who enjoyed granting African FIFA officials the status of 'head of state' wherever he went, in keeping with the reception given to such global icons as Winston Churchill, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela and the Pope.
"Dangerous Liars"
Phaedra Almajid, who worked on Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid and who lost her claim that her confidentiality had been breached and her safety compromised by its investigation into the bidding process, spoke to the German broadcaster, accusing FIFA's president of corruption — a claim Blatter denies.
She wrote on Twitter:
The most dangerous liars are those who think they are talking the truth! Silence is not an option on Q22. https://t.co/1n0CBMF5Dg
— Phaedra Almajid (@Palmajid) May 5, 2015
She claims that a sum of $1.5 million was offered to certain African nations to support the Qatar bid during the negotiations in the run-up to the World Cup award at a FIFA Congress in the Angolan capital, Luanda.
"There were four, three of them directly or indirectly linked to the Qatari Application," she said.
Almajid said Blatter, was "the only person in the world that can show up in every country […] and be received by the head of state."
