:00:08. > :00:12.What an absolutely fantastic achievement. Congratulations to
:00:13. > :00:15.them. We're going to go to Switzerland where one of the five
:00:16. > :00:21.candidates for the Fifa presidency is speaking.
:00:22. > :00:25.The former director of the world food programme and Mr Rick Parry,
:00:26. > :00:31.former chief executive of the Premier League and Liverpool
:00:32. > :00:38.football club. This distinguished group will give Fifa a real chance
:00:39. > :00:41.to embrace positive change. Well we can be assured that they have no
:00:42. > :00:49.hidden agendas and no vested interests other than to see Fifa
:00:50. > :00:55.back on its feet. A changing culture means embracing shared values. For
:00:56. > :01:01.me, it is values that must guide our actions in a new era for fever.
:01:02. > :01:07.Values of openness, transparency, ethical conduct, non-discrimination
:01:08. > :01:12.of any kind and no acceptance of mismanagement, corruption,
:01:13. > :01:19.self-interest, racism, sexism or human rights violations. I will lead
:01:20. > :01:23.a fever that exists to serve its member associations, Fifa which
:01:24. > :01:31.treats all its members fairly, equally, honestly and with dignity
:01:32. > :01:34.and respect. A Fifa free of corruption and fully committed to
:01:35. > :01:41.the developing of football across the globe. A Fifa that serves all
:01:42. > :01:46.regions and understands their specific needs. A Fifa that works on
:01:47. > :01:52.a case-by-case basis to elevate the game and maximise the potential of
:01:53. > :02:00.all, no matter the size, no matter the challenges. My fellow
:02:01. > :02:04.presidents, together we can restore Fifa's reputation, credibility and
:02:05. > :02:12.legitimacy. The new Fifa is your Fifa. Under my leadership, we will
:02:13. > :02:16.reverse the pyramid and put the priorities of our national
:02:17. > :02:20.associations at the top. We will return Fifa to what it is intended
:02:21. > :02:27.to be, a service organisation for football. Good governance will
:02:28. > :02:31.become the norm, from transparency and accountability to the highest
:02:32. > :02:37.ethical standards. Development will be meaningful and far reaching, with
:02:38. > :02:42.the ultimate goal of self sustainability for national
:02:43. > :02:47.associations. Clubs and leaks and other stakeholders will have a place
:02:48. > :02:53.at the table. After all, they are the backbone of our sport. The game
:02:54. > :03:00.and its players will be protected from any form of exploitation. World
:03:01. > :03:05.Cups will be allowed to grow responsibly and progressively to
:03:06. > :03:09.reflect the growth of the game. Our financial foundations will be
:03:10. > :03:14.strengthened and our social responsibilities will be robust and
:03:15. > :03:18.meaningful. I will steer Fifa towards stability and normality,
:03:19. > :03:33.while continuing to expand the great game of football across the globe. I
:03:34. > :03:39.am the only candidate who consistently demonstrated at you
:03:40. > :03:45.that will make a lasting difference. I am a candidate who will represent
:03:46. > :03:51.Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. I am not here to champion
:03:52. > :03:55.the needs of one region over another and nor will I subvert the needs of
:03:56. > :04:02.developing FAs in favour of those that are more established. I am one
:04:03. > :04:07.of you. Together, we can make history by electing the first Fifa
:04:08. > :04:14.president who comes directly from a member associations. A president
:04:15. > :04:17.that opens a door for all of you. I am the only candidate for football
:04:18. > :04:24.in all its forms, all over the world. As Fifa president, I will
:04:25. > :04:30.serve all Fifa associations equally. I will bridge divides. I will heal
:04:31. > :04:37.the rifts within our governing body and together, we can restore Fifa's
:04:38. > :04:44.image and credibility, through hard work, good governance, openness and
:04:45. > :04:53.inclusivity. I entered this campaign as an independent candidate beholden
:04:54. > :04:58.to know one. As President, I will be beholden to no one but you, our
:04:59. > :05:04.national associations. I'm indebted to all of you who have shared your
:05:05. > :05:10.concerns, ideas and aspirations. We, this Congress, are the custodians of
:05:11. > :05:14.the game. We have to take a united stand against the status quo, not
:05:15. > :05:22.only for the next generation but also for today's players and fans,
:05:23. > :05:27.who expect so much of us. Together, in accordance with Fifa's mission,
:05:28. > :05:32.we will develop the game, touch the world and build a better future.
:05:33. > :05:37.Today, you have the power to build the Fifa that the game truly
:05:38. > :05:46.deserves. Thank you. APPLAUSE
:05:47. > :05:49.You are watching our special coverage here on BBC World News as
:05:50. > :05:55.five candidates bid to lead world football. We're bringing you
:05:56. > :05:59.everything from the special congress in Zurich today, as we watch the
:06:00. > :06:04.candidates. You've just been seeing since Ali build al Hussein saying he
:06:05. > :06:08.is the only candidate who has demonstrated a genuine commitment to
:06:09. > :06:13.reform and saying he's not here to champion one region over another.
:06:14. > :06:17.This, of course, a landmark presidential contest. The delegates
:06:18. > :06:22.have already overwhelmingly endorsed a package of reforms to world
:06:23. > :06:30.football's very troubled governing body. Let's keep listening. Good
:06:31. > :06:35.afternoon. I was thinking before I came here today whether to speak
:06:36. > :06:45.through a statement or just be myself. The real me, who I am. Who I
:06:46. > :06:49.am when I come and talk to you as a confederation or national
:06:50. > :07:03.association. I think it's better to speak from the heart, rather than be
:07:04. > :07:10.dictated. In the beginning, if I want to talk about myself, I think
:07:11. > :07:21.everybody knows me around Fifa as of the Confederation. And of course a
:07:22. > :07:25.vice president of Fifa and people in Asia recall me as being a national
:07:26. > :07:34.association president for 15 years. I've always been elected since 1998
:07:35. > :07:40.and if I want to talk about my track record, then my track record speaks
:07:41. > :07:49.for itself. Everybody understands what Asia went through in the last
:07:50. > :07:51.few years. We went through the same ordeal that some of the
:07:52. > :08:00.confederations and probably fever is going through right now. But I think
:08:01. > :08:07.with unity, understanding and tolerance we've seen how Asia has
:08:08. > :08:14.changed from 2013 up to now. We've looked at our competitions, we've
:08:15. > :08:18.looked at our reforms, whether it's the women's representation, the age
:08:19. > :08:27.limit, term limit, integrity check that Fifa has and even the electoral
:08:28. > :08:35.guidelines as well that the AFC has. It just shows you that we started a
:08:36. > :08:40.bit early. But, again, coming to what Fifa has done in the past few
:08:41. > :08:45.months, I think we have to salute the 400 people that are working
:08:46. > :08:52.there in difficult times. They've done a terrific job, whether through
:08:53. > :08:58.the organising of the competitions, the meetings, etc, and they've been
:08:59. > :09:10.through difficult times, so my heart and thanks goes to them. And today,
:09:11. > :09:14.of course, we're happy as Asians, as well as being part of all the
:09:15. > :09:20.confederations today, but we've passed the resolutions of reforms.
:09:21. > :09:25.We had a meeting on the 17th of February in Kuala Lumpur to discuss
:09:26. > :09:31.it in detail but this is a first step. This is not the end of the
:09:32. > :09:36.reforms. This is just the beginning. And I'm sure there's a lot to come.
:09:37. > :09:43.But being together, consulting with each other on what's best for the
:09:44. > :09:48.future of Fifa, is the main thing. The unity that we have to establish
:09:49. > :09:56.is not just because today we have five candidates going for a post and
:09:57. > :10:02.everybody has the right to do so in this important day, but tomorrow we
:10:03. > :10:07.have to show to the rest of the world that we're going to work for
:10:08. > :10:13.the benefit of this organisation and for the rest of the football
:10:14. > :10:20.development around the world. Talking about developments, I think
:10:21. > :10:25.it's important to us all when we've talked about the programmes that
:10:26. > :10:31.Fifa has introduced in the past few decades. Without it, I think a lot
:10:32. > :10:37.of you won't be able even to develop the game or even operate, and this
:10:38. > :10:41.has been always a priority to most nations around the world. And I
:10:42. > :10:46.understand that very well, coming from Asia, trying to close the gap
:10:47. > :10:54.between the smaller countries and the big ones is vital. And it's a
:10:55. > :10:59.priority for us, for the sake of solidarity, to help the smaller
:11:00. > :11:04.nations. How can we bridge the gap between the small and the bigger
:11:05. > :11:12.ones? And in Asia, we've seen that. We've demonstrated that. And we see
:11:13. > :11:18.it like countries like Kurdistan, a small country that in the past two
:11:19. > :11:21.years haven't played a World Cup qualifier with the focus. Today they
:11:22. > :11:30.were able to make their biggest upset in the World Cup qualifiers.
:11:31. > :11:36.And other countries, like qualm and the Philippines, and I think this is
:11:37. > :11:42.all due to the focus that we need to concentrate on the smaller
:11:43. > :11:45.countries. -- Guam. Yes, the smaller nations have their own priorities
:11:46. > :11:53.but the bigger nations as well have their other priorities which have
:11:54. > :11:58.regard to reforms, transparency and I think we've shown that today, that
:11:59. > :12:06.we are all eager and determined to take that road. But coming to the
:12:07. > :12:10.finances, and I'm glad today the acting general secretary has
:12:11. > :12:16.mentioned a few details about what Fifa's going through. And when we
:12:17. > :12:27.give promises, we have to be realistic as well and I think I met
:12:28. > :12:30.a lot of the con figuration is -- confederations and I told them my
:12:31. > :12:33.real feeling about it and I think today it proves that what I've been
:12:34. > :12:41.saying in the past few weeks and months is the reality. We have to
:12:42. > :12:44.act responsibly, not just... STUDIO: You are watching the
:12:45. > :12:48.favourite for the Fifa presidency speaking in sera could the moment.
:12:49. > :12:52.We will say goodbye to viewers on BBC Two but continuing coverage of
:12:53. > :13:02.the Fifa election in this BBC News special. I think it's important that
:13:03. > :13:04.we make sure that this organisation is run with responsibility and
:13:05. > :13:18.that's our duty. A little talk of the World Cup. I
:13:19. > :13:22.think this is a topic that a lot of you thought but in the last few
:13:23. > :13:29.months, whether to have the same number of 32 teams or increase it to
:13:30. > :13:32.40. It has been requested by the reform committee as well. We have
:13:33. > :13:40.discussed it, and the ethical committee. I am sure that if the
:13:41. > :13:48.right justification is there, yes, we will also bought it. It is not
:13:49. > :13:52.just about numbers, it is about the details and justification, if we can
:13:53. > :13:55.convince the others, whether the member associations, or the public,
:13:56. > :13:59.that we're taking the right decisions. And I am sure we will
:14:00. > :14:08.look to the benefit of all with regard to matter. But in doing so,
:14:09. > :14:11.we have to include everyone. The inclusiveness of all the
:14:12. > :14:19.stakeholders of football, when we talk about the professional leagues,
:14:20. > :14:26.the clubs, NGOs and I think this is the purpose of having this
:14:27. > :14:33.stakeholder Council. Not just that, I think we have to bring in the
:14:34. > :14:36.years as well, to create a youth council because the younger
:14:37. > :14:46.generation have to have a say in the future of Fifa. We should not keep
:14:47. > :14:54.them out. And I hope that if I am elected, with the support of the
:14:55. > :14:58.Council, I will be able to do so. The power and the reforms we have
:14:59. > :15:03.discussed today is not just for the president. I think the president is
:15:04. > :15:13.one man and is the head of the council. First of all I have to
:15:14. > :15:20.convince the council that each decision we take is the right ones
:15:21. > :15:26.in that those decisions are passed. And later on in the Congress with
:15:27. > :15:31.your blessing as well because it has to be teamwork, and it has to be
:15:32. > :15:41.done through convincing all of us that we are on the right track. The
:15:42. > :15:50.game at the end, I will just refer that I am one of you, elected in the
:15:51. > :16:07.National Association for 15 years, and elected in April this
:16:08. > :16:26.year 's thank you for joining us president see,, each giving a 15
:16:27. > :16:35.minute address to the gates before the book. You earlier we had Prince
:16:36. > :16:42.Ali. We are about to do it from Jerome Champagne. We will be about
:16:43. > :16:50.to hear from Jerome Champagne. TRANSLATION: Ladies and gentlemen,
:16:51. > :16:58.presidents of the committees, ladies and gentlemen representatives of the
:16:59. > :17:05.Federation, presidents of Fifa federations, the campaign is now
:17:06. > :17:09.over. The time for the decision has arrived. The campaign was an
:17:10. > :17:17.opportunity to see a game for me and many of my friends. -- to see again
:17:18. > :17:21.for me and many of my friends and hear the concerns that I heard when
:17:22. > :17:27.I was in Fifa. Some of you are struggling to pay the bills, I have
:17:28. > :17:31.in mind the president of a club in eastern Europe who can only dream
:17:32. > :17:35.about his Warriors past because he cannot have a glorious present. Some
:17:36. > :17:42.players telling stories of how they are badly paid or not paid at all.
:17:43. > :17:48.Since 2012 in this campaign, I have pushed for a debate to highlight the
:17:49. > :17:52.issues faced by Fifa and football. Sadly, no debate has taken place. So
:17:53. > :17:58.the only way available to meet was doing these years to send you many
:17:59. > :18:01.letters, maybe sometimes too long, trying to explain the problems we
:18:02. > :18:06.are all facing and proposing real solutions to those problems. What is
:18:07. > :18:11.the situation of football today? Let's speak about football.
:18:12. > :18:16.Globalisation has been very good for our game. Without any doubt, I lived
:18:17. > :18:21.in the USA when there was no leak and today look at the TV audiences
:18:22. > :18:28.of World Cup matches, beating the NBA final of the season tie-breaking
:18:29. > :18:33.matches. Look at China. Waking up, fantastically investing in football,
:18:34. > :18:39.bringing their talents to China. Look at the map of football in the
:18:40. > :18:48.world, changing with new names, kept their day,, Ross. Unfortunately in
:18:49. > :18:51.football as in other activities globalisation comes with problems.
:18:52. > :18:56.And the biggest problem we are facing in football is not only like
:18:57. > :19:03.in the rest of society, imbalances, inequalities. Inequalities exist
:19:04. > :19:10.between the continents. The legacy of history. A legacy of what
:19:11. > :19:13.happened. In south American football there is more money today than 20
:19:14. > :19:19.years ago but the gap with Europe has increased. The international
:19:20. > :19:26.economic order for football is basically unfair. And raw materials
:19:27. > :19:32.are taken from these continents in football, and appropriated by
:19:33. > :19:36.others. The 20th -- 20 wealthiest clubs in the years have a turnover
:19:37. > :19:43.of billions of euros while more than half of you survive in your F as
:19:44. > :19:49.with less than $2 million a year. Not far from this building, there
:19:50. > :19:55.are six football fields. Five natural, one of artificial. Nearly
:19:56. > :19:59.as much, as many as the entire Democratic Republic of Congo with 80
:20:00. > :20:04.million inhabitants of the great footballing nation. Division and
:20:05. > :20:13.inequalities between continents, I grew up at time when the Berlin Wall
:20:14. > :20:19.divided football yet football was unanimous, it was even possible for
:20:20. > :20:23.an eastern European club to be champion of Europe. Is it possible
:20:24. > :20:28.today in this united Europe where football is divided? And look at the
:20:29. > :20:32.match level between geeks. The decline of uncertainty and
:20:33. > :20:36.competitiveness in the comp additions. Now, ladies and gentlemen
:20:37. > :20:43.commie must answer three questions. What kind of competition do you
:20:44. > :20:46.want, to you want a sport like basketball, concentrated on a very
:20:47. > :21:00.limited number of countries and leagues? And what I have said to
:21:01. > :21:05.describe this utilisation, what I call the Marcus Rashford of the
:21:06. > :21:09.game. Or do you want football to continue -- the NBA isation of the
:21:10. > :21:15.game. Do you want football to continue as it has done under Sepp
:21:16. > :21:19.Blatter who understood that football could not remain Unicenter and that
:21:20. > :21:25.the organisation had to adjust to this? Do you want Fifa to remain a
:21:26. > :21:30.federation of football associations that belong to you? Do you want it
:21:31. > :21:35.to remain at the point of balance in the world today? And I say this with
:21:36. > :21:43.a lot of French about respect to our colleagues from Uefa. Football has
:21:44. > :21:48.developed in 40 years, we need to make sure it remains a strong
:21:49. > :21:51.activity. I want to quote the president of the Caribbean
:21:52. > :21:54.Association who said recently, without Fifa we would be just
:21:55. > :21:59.sitting on the couch watching European leagues. What kind of
:22:00. > :22:05.person do you want to lead you? We need someone with the experience,
:22:06. > :22:10.the vision, and an unblemished background, capable of turning the
:22:11. > :22:14.page the controversies we have been facing and going through in the past
:22:15. > :22:20.years and months. Someone capable of reducing rather than enhancing
:22:21. > :22:24.attention and bad attention on Fifa. We also need someone with a
:22:25. > :22:28.programme that is not full of smoke and mirrors. My programme hasn't
:22:29. > :22:35.been endorsed by politicians, it has been endorsed by persons like Pele,
:22:36. > :22:41.Marco van Basten and others. I have never proposed financial schemes
:22:42. > :22:46.that would endanger Fifa's situation. I told you it would be
:22:47. > :22:50.dangerous. Regarding the World Cup with 40 teams, fine, but we must
:22:51. > :22:54.remember the consequences and difficulties of the World Cup in
:22:55. > :23:01.Brazil. And think of the calendar which is today so overcharged. With
:23:02. > :23:07.me Fifa will be modern necrotic. I will continue the rebalancing
:23:08. > :23:11.between the continents, directors coming from everywhere in the world.
:23:12. > :23:15.I will of course implement the separation of governmental functions
:23:16. > :23:21.and economic activities that I have been claiming for since 2012. And I
:23:22. > :23:27.will have more debates with you. I would like to continue a more
:23:28. > :23:28.transparent Fifa. One with more solidarity and development
:23:29. > :23:33.programmes. This is why I have proposed two double financial
:23:34. > :23:37.assistance programme to only one of those federations which allows
:23:38. > :23:43.budgets. Why? Because we have to be cautious. I second what Sheikh
:23:44. > :23:48.Salman has said. We need to be cautious in these current moments.
:23:49. > :23:51.More technical assistance to all of you, how to improve the management
:23:52. > :23:57.of clubs, of leagues, how to improve your federations. 400 artificial
:23:58. > :24:03.fields. I commit myself to doing that. I know how to do it because
:24:04. > :24:09.one I was in charge of win Africa with the FA Cup programme, we build
:24:10. > :24:13.54. And also we have to think of the small federations around the world
:24:14. > :24:23.from islands and to bail out those suffering from huge trust petition
:24:24. > :24:27.-- dishes. With me, I want participation of everyone. I want a
:24:28. > :24:31.newcomer edition for women, a women's World Cup to make sure that
:24:32. > :24:35.at the end of my mandate we will have a national women's league in
:24:36. > :24:41.every country. And I want to create a division for women's football. A
:24:42. > :24:44.more professional Fifa. You have seen the reforms we have adopted
:24:45. > :24:49.creating the stakeholders committee. I think we should go further. We
:24:50. > :24:54.need representatives of the clubs, leagues and players at the table of
:24:55. > :24:57.the council. A good step, but not enough. We can't run the game in the
:24:58. > :25:06.21st century without having stakeholders on board. If you trust
:25:07. > :25:10.me I will immediately launch a world bargaining agreement to modernise
:25:11. > :25:13.the transport system, to trace the fans regarding transfers and make
:25:14. > :25:21.sure that for all the training clubs in the world, they will receive the
:25:22. > :25:25.Duke solidarity mechanism in the Fifa regulations. And I will create
:25:26. > :25:30.a proper division for professional football because we need to better
:25:31. > :25:32.attend the needs at the top of football, use their knowledge and
:25:33. > :25:36.expertise to trigger it down to all the leagues and the clubs and
:25:37. > :25:42.football associations in the world. The past days, weeks, and months, we
:25:43. > :25:47.received recommendations, Russia, but now the vote is secret and its
:25:48. > :25:54.secrecy is protected. The comfort according to your conscience. But
:25:55. > :25:58.vote for the candidate who is truly independent, vote for the candidate
:25:59. > :26:04.where the knowledge of the world and football, notably the complex issues
:26:05. > :26:09.of global as Asian, vote for the candidate with the experience of
:26:10. > :26:12.Fifa's operations. I've been here 11 years and I know what's been done
:26:13. > :26:20.correctly in the last 40 years and I know what needs to be changed. I
:26:21. > :26:23.understand inequality and I remember the fight we faced to bring the
:26:24. > :26:29.first World Cup to Africa. I know the need to protect players and
:26:30. > :26:33.training clubs. Put the candidate who has shown constantly fidelity to
:26:34. > :26:44.Fifa, never attacked it, but never attacked the leaders. Constantly
:26:45. > :26:48.showing fidelity to the game. Vote for the candidate with an
:26:49. > :26:52.unblemished record, a candidate who would be an active president.
:26:53. > :26:57.Reforms have just been adopted that much remains to be done. Changes are
:26:58. > :27:03.needed to the substance and know the image of Fifa. We need to make sure
:27:04. > :27:09.that Fifa remains strong. But it stays united in that factional group
:27:10. > :27:16.of interest in continental issues do not break the pyramid. -- and they
:27:17. > :27:21.don't break the pyramid. We need further, more substantial reforms,
:27:22. > :27:24.I've mentioned some of them. We need diplomacy and perseverance to
:27:25. > :27:28.achieve these goals. We need to understand that in the world of
:27:29. > :27:33.today which is so divided and unfair, look at what happened in the
:27:34. > :27:37.streets of Paris, in a hotel in Burkina Faso, in Nigeria and the
:27:38. > :27:44.Middle East. The ones who want to divide us, forget one thing, we have
:27:45. > :27:48.football to show that what unites us is more important than what divides
:27:49. > :27:51.us. We are united thanks to the World Cup, because every four years
:27:52. > :27:59.we have this moment of world communion we can be proud of
:28:00. > :28:06.ourselves, our colours, and be together and respect each other.
:28:07. > :28:11.Above all, the image. I served Fifa for 11 years. I served nearly all of
:28:12. > :28:14.remember when I was in charge of that, you could call me on a
:28:15. > :28:20.Saturday and you had an answer on the Monday. We need to be stored
:28:21. > :28:25.Fifa is a strong organisation -- restore Fifa to the strong
:28:26. > :28:29.organisation it has been since May 21 1904. Now I need your help to
:28:30. > :28:35.accomplish these goals. I thank you very much for your attention.
:28:36. > :28:44.Jerome Champagne just ending his bid to lead world football. Thanks for
:28:45. > :28:49.joining us for our special coverage here on BBC World News and BBC News
:28:50. > :28:55.here in the UK, as five candidates make their bids to bid football's
:28:56. > :28:58.world governing body, Fifa. They've each been given 15 minutes to
:28:59. > :29:03.address delegates before the voting takes place and approaching the
:29:04. > :29:11.stage right now is Gianni Infantino, one of the favourites to win this
:29:12. > :29:18.contest. Mr President, members of the executive committee, dear
:29:19. > :29:19.delegates, today here in front of you I would like to speak to you
:29:20. > :29:38.with my heart. TRANSLATION: Speaking in Italian.
:29:39. > :29:43.That is the language of my parents. They have transmitted to me the
:29:44. > :29:48.values of life. The difference and to be able to differentiate between
:29:49. > :29:56.the good and the bad, and respect for people and respect for work. I
:29:57. > :30:06.then grew up in Switzerland, the German part of Switzerland, and I've
:30:07. > :30:12.also learned some virtues there - order, discipline, reliability - and
:30:13. > :30:24.then, of course, Romany Swiss, French-speaking Swiss. Freedom,
:30:25. > :30:30.equality, fraternity, something that is very important also in the world
:30:31. > :30:39.of football. And, of course, then Spain, South America, Latin America,
:30:40. > :30:46.the big, hard passion. Life but also football. All these principles, all
:30:47. > :30:52.these values, our principles and values that I take with me and that
:30:53. > :31:01.I took with me through my life. And if all of this, something happened.
:31:02. > :31:10.The destiny, the fete, everything happens for a reason. The destiny
:31:11. > :31:17.which brought me some months ago to start a journey, an exciting
:31:18. > :31:25.journey, a fantastic journey, in the middle of all of you. They journey
:31:26. > :31:31.which I was not thinking to embrace five months ago. I was not thinking
:31:32. > :31:35.to be a candidate for the Fifa presidency. I was not thinking to be
:31:36. > :31:41.here in front of you today but many things have happened in the last few
:31:42. > :31:44.months. Fifa is in a crisis situation, a difficult situation.
:31:45. > :31:49.The reputation and image of Fifa is tarnished and with a situation this
:31:50. > :31:56.difficult, dear friends, you have to choices. You hide or you stand up.
:31:57. > :32:02.You hide and you wait until it passes or you stand up and you try
:32:03. > :32:11.to do the right thing. For me, to hide has never been an option. I
:32:12. > :32:17.always wanted to act. And I'm not afraid of taking my responsibilities
:32:18. > :32:24.and go ahead and do what is right to do. Do what is right to do for
:32:25. > :32:31.football, do what is right to do for Fifa, because Fifa needs football,
:32:32. > :32:39.now more than ever. And that's why I started this journey. Around the
:32:40. > :32:44.world, on the 27th of October, the day after the announcement of my
:32:45. > :32:51.candidacy, I was in Africa. I was in Cairo at the executive committee and
:32:52. > :33:08.I ended the journey on Monday this week in Northern Ireland, from Cape
:33:09. > :33:16.to Cairo. I spent a very emotional day with Tokyo Sexwale, who showed
:33:17. > :33:21.me what football can bring, what football has brought in Northern
:33:22. > :33:26.Ireland to people have no hope, who had no life, no vision any more. It
:33:27. > :33:33.has brought them home, life and vision for the future. And this has
:33:34. > :33:47.to be reflected all over the world. Believe me. In Africa, certainly.
:33:48. > :33:53.TRANSLATION: And I see with my own eyes what is taking place in Africa,
:33:54. > :33:57.what can be done. I looked at the eyes of children in Africa, holding
:33:58. > :34:01.a football into their hands. What we can do, what Fifa has been able to
:34:02. > :34:06.do for Africa, we can do a lot for Africa in terms of development of
:34:07. > :34:11.football, investing in infrastructure, for travel costs for
:34:12. > :34:15.teams. We have to help Africa. And Portuguese is also being spoken in
:34:16. > :34:21.Africa. What we need to do is also to bring back football and develop
:34:22. > :34:25.football in those countries of Africa where Portuguese is being
:34:26. > :34:33.spoken. My journey brought me to South America. TRANSLATION: The
:34:34. > :34:38.passion, the heart of football. The world has to thank South America for
:34:39. > :34:42.what South America has done and is doing for football, the quality of
:34:43. > :34:47.players. Ten member associations. This is a small confederation, the
:34:48. > :34:54.smallest in terms of numbers, but when it comes to football it is the
:34:55. > :34:57.largest and we have to thank them, thanks as American football for what
:34:58. > :35:00.they are doing, and we also have to look to South American football to
:35:01. > :35:05.maintain their talent at home in South America, to develop the talent
:35:06. > :35:11.in South America and to continue to work with the teams in order to
:35:12. > :35:18.improve South American football. To the south, to the north, a very
:35:19. > :35:27.exciting confederation, of course the Spanish speakers... Translation
:35:28. > :35:33.completely crazy about football. But infrastructure is missing. We need
:35:34. > :35:39.to be on the ground. Fifa has to be there to help. In particular in
:35:40. > :35:43.difficult, testing times like these, Fifa must not hold back. Fifa must
:35:44. > :35:54.be on the ground, by your side to help football. Is a confederation
:35:55. > :35:57.where we have the smallest members, Montserrat, and the biggest one,
:35:58. > :36:03.United States, with 300 million in that confederation on of course they
:36:04. > :36:06.have different needs. Of course we must act in different ways to
:36:07. > :36:10.develop football in the United States or in Montserrat but it's
:36:11. > :36:13.important to go to the knighted state and to Montserrat and they
:36:14. > :36:20.went to the United States and to Montserrat to see what is needed. --
:36:21. > :36:25.the United States. And they met many people who have the passion for
:36:26. > :36:28.football, who breathe football, live football, love football, who want a
:36:29. > :36:36.new era for football, who want real investment in football. In the
:36:37. > :36:41.Caribbean, they dream of the Caribbean league. Make that dream
:36:42. > :36:45.come true, guys. Make it come true, the Caribbean league is something
:36:46. > :36:50.that has great potential as far as I'm concerned, from having visited
:36:51. > :36:57.many, many of your beautiful islands. And we can change football.
:36:58. > :37:04.What can you say about Asia? A huge continent, a continent of diversity,
:37:05. > :37:10.a rich continent of cultures. From east to the West, I'm told they have
:37:11. > :37:14.nothing in common. It's not true. They have football in common. They
:37:15. > :37:19.have the love of football in common, the passion for football in common
:37:20. > :37:23.and if they manage to channel it, as China is doing now, and to focus on
:37:24. > :37:30.the develop mental football, and Fifa will be there to help, then of
:37:31. > :37:37.course Asia will become very, very strong. -- the development of
:37:38. > :37:43.football. But Gianni 11, the ocean's 11, this was one of my first trips
:37:44. > :37:49.to Papua New Guinea, a great experience. A great love for
:37:50. > :37:56.football. Approach the kids in the schools. This is their World Cup.
:37:57. > :38:00.The World Cup of taking kids out of the streets and putting them to play
:38:01. > :38:05.football. Where is Fifa in this? Where is Fifa in these projects?
:38:06. > :38:11.Fifa has to be there, to help, to assist the develop and football of
:38:12. > :38:20.Oceania 11th. And then, of course, we come back to Europe. And in
:38:21. > :38:23.Europe, there is a lot of expertise. Football is developed. But also in
:38:24. > :38:28.Europe, there are big and small countries, there are rich and poor
:38:29. > :38:32.countries, but Europe has to do much more for football. We have to break
:38:33. > :38:36.down all these walls which exists between continents and we have to
:38:37. > :38:42.build bridges instead. We have to get Europe to do much more than
:38:43. > :38:48.commit it for Europe to do more in the world. We have training experts,
:38:49. > :38:53.administrative experts, marketing experts, referees' instructors. They
:38:54. > :38:56.have to travel around the world and help all the associations and this
:38:57. > :39:05.will be done as of tomorrow, dear friends. Europe is also the
:39:06. > :39:13.continent where I was educated, where I started to work, where I was
:39:14. > :39:23.given a chance to work, and that's why, believe me, when I speak about
:39:24. > :39:30.figures and when I propose figures, I know what I'm speaking about. I've
:39:31. > :39:33.been managing Uefa for the last seven years. In the last seven
:39:34. > :39:38.years, in a period of financial crisis, the revenues of Uefa went up
:39:39. > :39:42.by almost three times. The distributions to the associations
:39:43. > :39:48.increased as well very, very significantly. And I'm asking you
:39:49. > :39:58.all, I'm asking you all, if Fifa generates 5 billion revenue, is it
:39:59. > :40:03.normal that 1.2 billion cannot be distributed to you for reinvestment
:40:04. > :40:07.in football? What does Fifa have to do with the money that Fifa
:40:08. > :40:14.generates? It has to be reinvested in football. In my proposal, out of
:40:15. > :40:19.5 billion, 1.2 has to be reinvested in football. It is 25%. Are you
:40:20. > :40:24.seriously telling me it is a problem to put 25% of the revenues for the
:40:25. > :40:29.regeneration of football? It is not because the money of Fifa is your
:40:30. > :40:34.money. That is not the money of the Fifa president. It's your money. You
:40:35. > :40:39.are the national associations and the money of Fifa has to serve for
:40:40. > :40:44.the development of football and not for anything else and if we develop
:40:45. > :40:47.football, the world will look at us and applaud us and say, you are
:40:48. > :40:52.doing something sensible with your money. This is what we have to do.
:40:53. > :40:56.And that's why I'm standing here in front of you, because I want to
:40:57. > :41:00.bring football back to Fifa and Fifa back to football. We have been
:41:01. > :41:07.speaking in the last month about many many things. Corruption,
:41:08. > :41:14.courts, tribunal is, lawyers, whatever, police. We have to speak
:41:15. > :41:18.again about football. We have to concentrate ourselves on football.
:41:19. > :41:23.Of course we have to make the reforms, of course we have to be
:41:24. > :41:30.transparent. I've been this for the last 15 years of my life in Uefa but
:41:31. > :41:33.this will have to do it. You will have to participate, the national
:41:34. > :41:39.associations, in the life of every day of Fifa. But then we need to do
:41:40. > :41:42.what Fifa has to do, develop football, invest human resources and
:41:43. > :41:47.financial resources in the development of football and for
:41:48. > :41:52.this, we need a strongly do, a strong leader and the strong
:41:53. > :41:58.leadership. And that's why I'm here. A leader alone, however, cannot do
:41:59. > :42:04.anything. I will need you, each and every single one of you, and I will
:42:05. > :42:13.be there for you every day and every night. So my pledge to you is, let's
:42:14. > :42:20.bring Fifa forward together. Two minutes, please. I've finished.
:42:21. > :42:25.APPLAUSE STUDIO: Gianni Infantino addressing
:42:26. > :42:28.the delegates, standing off in a number of languages, French,
:42:29. > :42:34.Italian, English as well. Just reminding the delegates that he
:42:35. > :42:37.is indeed truly global citizen. Talking about how he wants to do the
:42:38. > :42:41.right thing not just for football and for Fifa but for the fans. We're
:42:42. > :42:45.moving through them quite quickly, the five candidates who are all
:42:46. > :42:50.bidding to be the head of football's governing body. It is quite a day.
:42:51. > :42:55.Fifa is saying today could be pivotal and a turning point for the
:42:56. > :42:58.organisation. We have one more candidate to hear from, Tokyo
:42:59. > :43:09.Sexwale from South Africa. He is approaching the stage now.
:43:10. > :43:16.No, he is not, in fact. That was my imagination. I thought I could spot
:43:17. > :43:21.him approaching. Here he is now just getting to his feet. We've heard
:43:22. > :43:27.from Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Jerome Champagne, Jani and Santino
:43:28. > :43:35.and shakes of Bahrain, who is currently the favourite. -- Gianni
:43:36. > :43:39.Infantino and shake some of Bahrain. Mr President, if this is about
:43:40. > :43:43.football, then it is also about extra time that I may get because
:43:44. > :43:48.others left five minutes, another one left three, another one left
:43:49. > :43:52.three and another one left one. So I hope you'll give me the referee's
:43:53. > :44:00.optional time if I overrun! APPLAUSE
:44:01. > :44:07.Mr President and all friends of Fifa's football family and
:44:08. > :44:15.executive, dear comrades, distinguished guests, I do not stand
:44:16. > :44:18.before you today as the leadership of football out there to teach you
:44:19. > :44:32.anything about football. I have played football in Soweto in
:44:33. > :44:40.South Africa. I have played football in prison. I've played football in
:44:41. > :44:49.the Army, I know how to teach football. Three days ago, I had a
:44:50. > :44:54.son born. And very soon when he is able to walk, I will throw a ball
:44:55. > :45:00.and teach him how to play football. I dedicate what I am saying to that
:45:01. > :45:05.little boy today. I cannot teach this leadership about football. The
:45:06. > :45:13.reason we're here today, the is on the wall. Extraordinary! -- the
:45:14. > :45:21.writing is on the wall. That is why we are here. The Fifa president is
:45:22. > :45:25.not elected every nine months, we met nine months ago and we elected a
:45:26. > :45:33.president, I never dreamt I would become one. Myself and my
:45:34. > :45:35.colleagues, I find myself in a distinguished group of people, none
:45:36. > :45:41.of us have thought we would be here. You brought us here. Your nominated
:45:42. > :45:46.us. I want to thank the South African football Association which
:45:47. > :45:52.dared to say, go for it. I also want to honour those countries that gave
:45:53. > :45:59.me further impetus by giving me the necessary approval to present before
:46:00. > :46:10.the electoral committee of Fifa, for me to come this far. I am here
:46:11. > :46:14.today. People have been saying, Tokyo, withdraw. And the soldier, I
:46:15. > :46:21.die with my boots on. You don't withdraw in football. Maybe people
:46:22. > :46:25.who want to withdraw arranged to withdraw money from paying accounts,
:46:26. > :46:31.we don't do that. I came this far because if you are given a mission,
:46:32. > :46:33.you go at their computer to turnaround in some small mission
:46:34. > :46:40.somewhere, you discharge the mission. I am here today. I say
:46:41. > :46:45.these are extraordinary times because Fifa is faced with this
:46:46. > :46:48.extraordinary congress. And what makes it extraordinary is because we
:46:49. > :46:57.lost a president, and then we lost the Secretary General. Jerome
:46:58. > :47:03.Valcke. Then we lost Michel Platini. Then we lost 14 leaders in the hotel
:47:04. > :47:12.where we are staying. And then another 16. Extraordinary means
:47:13. > :47:18.crisis. So we can't talk about football today. We are talking about
:47:19. > :47:23.the problems which made us come here, nine months after we had taken
:47:24. > :47:30.the decision to elect a president. And I am sorry about what happened
:47:31. > :47:34.to our friends. These friends committees are family. I know it is
:47:35. > :47:40.easy to dismiss them, when people are in trouble, you them away.
:47:41. > :47:44.Nelson Mandela taught us, never rejoice in the pain and misery of
:47:45. > :47:49.others. I hope they are able to resolve their problems, and one day
:47:50. > :47:57.we can see them as different people. But where the law is broken, it will
:47:58. > :48:05.take its own course here. The word crisis, tonnage image, chaos, this
:48:06. > :48:12.morning, BBC, toxic climate. This is us today. That's what we came to
:48:13. > :48:19.rectify here, that's what we came to fix, our own family of Fifa. I've
:48:20. > :48:26.been coming into this city, is to president, for 11 years, into the
:48:27. > :48:30.city, as a member of Fifa. You put me in the Fifa Fairplay committee
:48:31. > :48:36.for the first time. And fair play is supposed to be on the field and off
:48:37. > :48:42.the field. We have problems. You delegates put me in the media
:48:43. > :48:46.committee I am in right now. Our chairman taught me to look at Fifa
:48:47. > :48:51.differently because we get reports from across the world about this
:48:52. > :48:57.beautiful game. You put me on the antiracism task force. And I say in
:48:58. > :49:02.my manifesto that the task force should become a permanent Fifa
:49:03. > :49:07.standing committee because racism will be with us for a long, long
:49:08. > :49:14.time. It can't just be a committee that comes out of. And last time
:49:15. > :49:20.from this platform my name was mentioned to lead the most difficult
:49:21. > :49:25.task we are faced with, you, Congressmen and congresswomen of
:49:26. > :49:29.Fifa. It is Palestine and Israel. I will be reporting to the next
:49:30. > :49:34.Congress in Mexico. About the progress we are making. People are
:49:35. > :49:38.dying in that part of the world. All we are saying is, hold the tax so
:49:39. > :49:44.that we can allow football to find a place. -- hold the tanks. The
:49:45. > :49:49.difference together for two presidents who were here last time
:49:50. > :49:53.from Palestine and from Israel. They are doing their best us to try to
:49:54. > :50:00.solve the problem of Palestine and Israel. I ask you to do that.
:50:01. > :50:08.APPLAUSE Football is not broken. Football is
:50:09. > :50:14.fine. The other day, on stage, whistle Lionel Messi and Ronaldo on
:50:15. > :50:19.stage for the Ballon d'Or. Football isn't broken. It is being played. It
:50:20. > :50:23.has problems, it must be developed, it must be grown. There must be
:50:24. > :50:29.changes. It must begin to reflect the kind of world in which we live,
:50:30. > :50:36.where others have got better as a lit is. Africa must begin as well to
:50:37. > :50:40.benefit from what Uefa ceiling, the Oceana nations of the world. The
:50:41. > :50:48.task must begin to change the playing fields from brown patches to
:50:49. > :50:57.green pictures. -- pitches. This is the challenge of football. There I
:50:58. > :51:05.have, as you can see, my top 11. My strike team is four, four, two. You
:51:06. > :51:14.like that? APPLAUSE
:51:15. > :51:21.My goal is better governance. I don't have to say anything about
:51:22. > :51:27.corporate governance. Antiracism, there is no football as long as
:51:28. > :51:30.people are divided in the world. Neymar cannot play football if he
:51:31. > :51:38.and Rooney look upon each other as enemies. That's why I say the task
:51:39. > :51:44.force, antiracism, ought to be made permanent, if we are serious, no
:51:45. > :51:54.slips when people are suffering racially. My strike team. My
:51:55. > :51:59.midfield, I just want to touch on one, the one that brought us here,
:52:00. > :52:03.the World Cup allocations. Mr President, I think it should be the
:52:04. > :52:09.last time that the World Cup is allocated to two countries at the
:52:10. > :52:13.same time, Qatar and Russia. What has happened has happened but I do
:52:14. > :52:16.not think the World Cup should again be awarded to two different
:52:17. > :52:23.countries at the same time because this is what brought us here. The
:52:24. > :52:26.World Cup has got to be shared. Much as my own country was able to get
:52:27. > :52:33.the World Cup in 2010, many other countries should get it. May it be
:52:34. > :52:38.done in an open democratic transparent manner and not under the
:52:39. > :52:42.tables. The whole thing is to restore the integrity. That is my
:52:43. > :52:46.midfield, the integrity of Fifa. That is what is damaged and that
:52:47. > :52:55.what makes this conference to be extraordinary. There is no football
:52:56. > :52:59.without sponsors. I have been a sponsor, I'm a business person in my
:53:00. > :53:04.other life, I never give money without checking where it is going.
:53:05. > :53:10.The sponsors have every right to call us to account for their funds.
:53:11. > :53:19.S caution, caution to the sponsors. Talk about corruption, talk about
:53:20. > :53:26.it, point fingers but to not get so close is to tell us what kind of
:53:27. > :53:28.president should be chosen. I propose a Fifa advisory board in
:53:29. > :53:35.line with the reforms we have adopted. The world today is
:53:36. > :53:40.watching, and good governance and best practice today demands an
:53:41. > :53:45.international body that will be watching. I'm putting that on the
:53:46. > :53:49.table of the next president. An international advisory board of
:53:50. > :53:56.independent, credible, respectable people, who meet just once a year,
:53:57. > :54:03.and report back to us in openness about how we are convinced of
:54:04. > :54:09.conducting ourselves. I propose that. Football is about development.
:54:10. > :54:13.That's my strike team. But development, about players. At the
:54:14. > :54:15.end of the day it is the players, the players, these other people
:54:16. > :54:20.people come to watch. Their protection for me is most important.
:54:21. > :54:27.That our good agents of football and bad ones, particularly in Europe,
:54:28. > :54:34.they help us. They bring the kids with promises of turning them into
:54:35. > :54:41.stars, protect the children from football child trafficking. That's
:54:42. > :54:44.my strike team. Protect football where it isn't protected. We are
:54:45. > :54:49.here today because we want to repair what has gone wrong. We are here
:54:50. > :54:57.today because of president will have to be elected. One of us is going to
:54:58. > :55:04.become a president today. Four of us will not be president. For me, if it
:55:05. > :55:09.is Gianni it is a party. If it is Sheikh Salman, it's a party. If it
:55:10. > :55:13.is Jerome it's a party. If it is Prince Ali, it's a party. Of course
:55:14. > :55:19.if it was me it would be a great party!
:55:20. > :55:27.APPLAUSE Mr Chairman, elections are about
:55:28. > :55:38.resentment. Might last parting word is the following. Our house is under
:55:39. > :55:44.attack. Pressures, media litigation, all things that are making us feel,
:55:45. > :55:51.let's stay together, hold the line. The world is waiting. They think
:55:52. > :55:58.this is the end of Fifa. I believe there is an organisation called and
:55:59. > :56:04.Fifa now. I came here to join you so that we turn back fat attack on us
:56:05. > :56:11.and remain united and leave here as a United family of football. I am a
:56:12. > :56:17.candidate of consensus. I am a candidate of unity. Reflect the
:56:18. > :56:21.views of my country as a candidate of consolidation. You don't have to
:56:22. > :56:26.elect me as president. I've got a surprise for you. My campaign ends
:56:27. > :56:33.today. And I suspend my participation. I leave only four
:56:34. > :56:39.people. It is your problem now. I leave only four people, Tokyo
:56:40. > :56:42.Sexwhale will not go further to cause division because I am a
:56:43. > :56:49.candidate of bringing people together. Out of the four, decide
:56:50. > :56:52.which one you will elect as president, and I will say, under
:56:53. > :56:56.such a man, one day I hope the president will be a woman. I believe
:56:57. > :57:07.in unity. APPLAUSE
:57:08. > :57:13.I believe in unity, the Mandela Way. Nelson Mandela taught us. I know
:57:14. > :57:22.some people don't like us to quote him. I will speak until zero. I've
:57:23. > :57:29.got to be careful, maybe I will get an optional time from the referee, I
:57:30. > :57:34.don't know! When your house is under attack, Nelson Mandela once said to
:57:35. > :57:42.me, when we are subjected to the kind of things that we seeing, the
:57:43. > :57:46.media, the police, the FBI, everybody, it is not the right
:57:47. > :57:53.moment to begin to start a fire in your own house. I am here to join
:57:54. > :57:58.all of you who stand behind that President to make sure that we are
:57:59. > :58:03.led by a man who is prepared to take us out of the morass where we are,
:58:04. > :58:09.so that we regain the trust of the public and the community out there,
:58:10. > :58:10.so that Fifa goes back to being the kind of credible organisation that
:58:11. > :58:29.it was when it was founded. Thank you very much. For bringing us
:58:30. > :58:35.this far. It was a good run for me to participate alongside the others.
:58:36. > :58:39.I am prepared to serve under the next president. My campaign is
:58:40. > :58:46.suspended. I thank you. APPLAUSE
:58:47. > :58:50.STUDIO: Well, the first big shock of the day in Zurich.
:58:51. > :58:57.Tokyo Sexwale from South Africa actually suspending his candidacy
:58:58. > :59:01.for the top job at football's world governing body, saying he is
:59:02. > :59:05.prepared to serve underneath the next president. We're now down to
:59:06. > :59:10.four candidates. He made a few statements and got a few laughs, the
:59:11. > :59:15.only candidate to do so, but said that "Our house is under attack and
:59:16. > :59:19.we must hold the line". Speaking right to time, Tokyo Sexwale, but he
:59:20. > :59:24.is suspending his candidacy. Thanks so much for joining us for this BBC
:59:25. > :59:28.News as special as we count down to that election of the next Fifa
:59:29. > :59:34.president, the head of football's world governing body. Remember, he
:59:35. > :59:38.will replace Sepp Blatter who was at the centre of corruption allegations
:59:39. > :59:40.when he stepped down last year. We have now heard from all of the
:59:41. > :59:45.candidates. The voting will begin shortly. We'll be taking you through
:59:46. > :59:53.it throughout the day here on the BBC. With me in the studio is a
:59:54. > :59:55.football consultant and a representative of Transparency
:59:56. > :59:59.International. Watching the candidates was Katie Gornall, who
:00:00. > :00:04.joins us from Zurich. So, Katie, as shock. We have orally got one
:00:05. > :00:08.candidate who has stepped down. There is no denying who has stolen
:00:09. > :00:12.the show so far. That was a very entertaining speech from Tokyo
:00:13. > :00:16.Sexwale. It's interesting because he's been criticised for leading a
:00:17. > :00:19.lacklustre campaign so far so I think if he'd shown some of that
:00:20. > :00:25.passion earlier in his campaign, he might have done a little better but
:00:26. > :00:28.no one really expected him to win. His certainly provided the most
:00:29. > :00:32.entertaining moment of the speeches. He is withdrawing from the race so
:00:33. > :00:36.the run out just for candidates and the two front runners are Sheikh
:00:37. > :00:40.Salman and Gianni Infantino. Sheikh Salman gave quite a serious speech
:00:41. > :00:44.and said he was speaking from the heart. He said he understood the
:00:45. > :00:47.responsibility of taking Fifa forward, that he would bankrupt
:00:48. > :00:51.Fifa, he would take care of the finances. That was seen as a bit of
:00:52. > :00:55.a dig to his main rival, Jani and Santino, whose main pledge of his
:00:56. > :00:58.election campaign has been to increase the amount of money he
:00:59. > :01:02.would give to develop football in different countries. Gianni
:01:03. > :01:07.Infantino's speech was interesting. I was struck by a number of things
:01:08. > :01:10.he said. He went seamlessly from French, Spanish, Italian and English
:01:11. > :01:13.and gave the translators a lot of work to do. He gave a very
:01:14. > :01:18.impassioned speech and addressed some of the criticisms he's faced
:01:19. > :01:21.from his rival about the financial situation. He also went round the
:01:22. > :01:26.various different confederations and mentioned his trip to Robben Island
:01:27. > :01:32.with Tokyo Sexwale as an appeal to African voters. He went to each and
:01:33. > :01:38.every confederation. He also said that he doesn't see why, when Fifa
:01:39. > :01:42.has a turnover of $5 billion that 25 the scent of that can't be shared
:01:43. > :01:45.out among the confederations. He said the money belongs to you,
:01:46. > :01:49.speaking to the delegates, not the president. That got round of
:01:50. > :01:53.applause. Whether it will be enough to sway the vote his way, we will
:01:54. > :01:58.have to wait and see. What happens now? When will voting get under way?
:01:59. > :02:01.Now that all the candidates have given their speeches, there will be
:02:02. > :02:06.a short break and then the voting will get under way very soon. It's
:02:07. > :02:11.going to take, we think, around one hour and 40 minutes to two hours per
:02:12. > :02:14.round of voting. Each country gets called up alphabetically. They will
:02:15. > :02:19.collect their slip. They'll have to leave their phone outside the booth
:02:20. > :02:23.so that there can't be any accusation of them trying to take a
:02:24. > :02:26.photo of their voting slip to prove who they voted for two try and exert
:02:27. > :02:31.some political pressure, perhaps, once the result is announced. But
:02:32. > :02:34.each country will go forward, they will place their vote and then go
:02:35. > :02:38.back to their seat. There are 207 eligible voters in this election. We
:02:39. > :02:44.think voting will take around one hour and ten minutes. It will take
:02:45. > :02:48.around half an hour to count those votes by the people overseeing at
:02:49. > :02:52.all, so probably about two hours until we get the result of the first
:02:53. > :02:56.round. If there is a two thirds majority at that point, a winner
:02:57. > :02:59.will be declared. If not, it will go through a second round, the process
:03:00. > :03:05.will start again, but in subsequent rounds it just needs a simple
:03:06. > :03:08.majority, so 50% plus one. Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, the head of the
:03:09. > :03:13.Asian Federation, a controversial candidate who has had to deny human
:03:14. > :03:17.rights abuses in the build-up to the selection, is considered the front
:03:18. > :03:20.runner at the moment. We will have to see whether any of that
:03:21. > :03:24.last-minute lobbying by the other candidates has swayed some of the
:03:25. > :03:27.other votes their way. Stay with us. I want to bring in Alexandr Britain
:03:28. > :03:31.reflect on some of what we've just heard. Alex, every candidate was
:03:32. > :03:35.keen to make the point that this is a pivotal moment for Fifa. Do you
:03:36. > :03:39.think this is their chance to start afresh? I do but I'm not optimistic
:03:40. > :03:45.it will happen. I worked at Saatchi it will happen. I worked at Saatchi
:03:46. > :03:49.Saatchi and we produced an ad that said "Labour isn't working". We
:03:50. > :03:53.could adapt that to say Fifa isn't working and what we've heard today
:03:54. > :03:57.does not give me any hope that it will be working in the future. What
:03:58. > :04:01.Fifa needs basically is revolution and what we've heard is a tacit
:04:02. > :04:08.acknowledgement of some form of evolution, which is not sufficient.
:04:09. > :04:12.Given the extent of corruption we've seen at Fifa, do you think they can
:04:13. > :04:16.be trusted to reform themselves? I find it hard to believe that they
:04:17. > :04:20.can. They could take some steps that would win over people to the view
:04:21. > :04:25.that they could do it and I think that a couple of the candidates did
:04:26. > :04:29.talk about independent oversight. If it wasn't just within the football
:04:30. > :04:34.family... We've had reforms within the football family for far too long
:04:35. > :04:38.but haven't actually produced the goods so I think we really do need
:04:39. > :04:42.to have independent people checking that the reforms actually go through
:04:43. > :04:45.and are implemented. Katie, let's talk about the Raft of reforms. They
:04:46. > :04:52.were approved pretty quickly and conclusively, too. What other forms
:04:53. > :04:57.and how important are they? -- what are the reforms? In the build-up to
:04:58. > :05:00.the elections, it was the Reform Party of the day that was touted as
:05:01. > :05:06.the most important vote of the day. More important than the presidential
:05:07. > :05:11.election. This reform package was considered key to Fifa's future. If
:05:12. > :05:16.they rejected it, that might affect Fifa's status as a victim of
:05:17. > :05:20.corruption by the US department of justice as their investigation into
:05:21. > :05:23.corruption in fever continues. If they lose that status, they could
:05:24. > :05:27.face being dissolved so vitally important that they got pushed
:05:28. > :05:32.through and in the build president said to all of the candidates, urged
:05:33. > :05:36.them to pass it, saying, this is Fifa's chance to show it is
:05:37. > :05:41.listening to the world so those reforms were past. They needed 75%
:05:42. > :05:44.approval and got 89 present but they improve things like limiting the
:05:45. > :05:50.term of the president, things like disclosing salaries, including at
:05:51. > :05:54.least six women on the committee, all things designed to make Fifa
:05:55. > :05:58.more transparent and accountable as an organisation but many feel that
:05:59. > :06:02.those reforms just don't go far enough. Thanks for that. We will
:06:03. > :06:05.look at the live pictures now and the voting is getting under way.
:06:06. > :06:10.They are moving things swiftly along in Zurich now we've heard from all
:06:11. > :06:15.the candidates. Alex, just to reflect a bit more on the reforms,
:06:16. > :06:19.which many people say or Porton -- important than the election of the
:06:20. > :06:22.president. I heard people say, what is the point of painting the house
:06:23. > :06:27.when the foundations of the house are still so shaky? Why don't you
:06:28. > :06:32.think they can do it? Because the keynote is set at the top and what
:06:33. > :06:37.the philosophy and the policy is of the top man permeates down and
:06:38. > :06:41.that's the key. So everything really depends on who is going to be
:06:42. > :06:46.elected as the top man. So you don't have faith in any of these four
:06:47. > :06:53.candidates? They are... Well, let's say that they're a poor bunch in
:06:54. > :06:59.terms of representing who could represent football. For example, the
:07:00. > :07:03.powerhouse of football is Europe but there's resentment that Europe are
:07:04. > :07:08.on their traditional role and there for telling people what to do and
:07:09. > :07:12.there are key people in Europe and the people in Europe who matter are
:07:13. > :07:15.the clubs. The clubs are the most important in this element because
:07:16. > :07:21.they provide the players and they provide the money but where are the
:07:22. > :07:25.big men at the European clubs standing? They're not, they're
:07:26. > :07:29.absent. Can I mention the fancier, Debra, because they haven't been
:07:30. > :07:33.referred to much today. How much do the fans care about what is
:07:34. > :07:38.happening at Fifa? It's hard to say except we did do a poll and we did
:07:39. > :07:45.it on a football up and we polled over 25,000 fans and 69% said they
:07:46. > :07:52.didn't have any trust in Fifa. -- football app. That is a benchmark is
:07:53. > :07:56.not very optimistic for Fifa. They did say that the scandals were
:07:57. > :08:02.hurting their enjoyment of football, 43% said that. That must be a real
:08:03. > :08:05.worry. I would say that is a real worry for people in football because
:08:06. > :08:10.of the fans don't enjoy what goes on on the pitch, why bother? They.
:08:11. > :08:14.Paying for their subscriptions on TV, they. Buying the branded
:08:15. > :08:20.footballs, they. Wanting the World Cup. I don't think we are anywhere
:08:21. > :08:26.close to that and I wouldn't say that that is an issue but it is a
:08:27. > :08:32.message. The damage to the brand has been huge. Absolutely. People in
:08:33. > :08:35.football hate the term brand being applied to it but a brand is
:08:36. > :08:39.something that is created in the mind, full of emotional and
:08:40. > :08:43.irrational values, and the Fifa brand has been undermined to such an
:08:44. > :08:49.extent that is has no value. How do you restore that value? By playing
:08:50. > :08:54.on the one element that it has, the World Cup, and realising that the
:08:55. > :08:59.World Cup is of all importance. But picking up a point that Deborah made
:09:00. > :09:03.earlier, are Fifa good enough to self regulate? That is a question
:09:04. > :09:07.that many people have asked in many aspects of football and I would have
:09:08. > :09:12.to say that I very much doubt whether they can solve regulate.
:09:13. > :09:14.There are a couple of really wild and really wacky suggestions as to
:09:15. > :09:20.house of regulation could be applied. One is that Fifa could
:09:21. > :09:23.become a plc, the other is, of course, but we hope that the
:09:24. > :09:28.American investigation might find fault and they have to start afresh.
:09:29. > :09:32.Thank you so much. Let's remind you what we're seeing. A voting booth as
:09:33. > :09:37.the delegates go to cast their votes. It's a very secret process.
:09:38. > :09:41.You are not allowed to take photos in the booth. Everyone has to leave
:09:42. > :09:46.their mobile phones behind. There are no only four candidates after
:09:47. > :09:48.Tokyo Sexwale stepped down. We will continue our coverage here on BBC
:09:49. > :09:50.World News. Do stay with