FIFA Presidential Election BBC News Special

What an absolutely fantastic achievement. Congratulations to

them. We're going to go to Switzerland where one of the five

candidates for the Fifa presidency is speaking.

The former director of the world food programme and Mr Rick Parry,

former chief executive of the Premier League and Liverpool

football club. This distinguished group will give Fifa a real chance

to embrace positive change. Well we can be assured that they have no

hidden agendas and no vested interests other than to see Fifa

back on its feet. A changing culture means embracing shared values. For

me, it is values that must guide our actions in a new era for fever.

Values of openness, transparency, ethical conduct, non-discrimination

of any kind and no acceptance of mismanagement, corruption,

self-interest, racism, sexism or human rights violations. I will lead

a fever that exists to serve its member associations, Fifa which

treats all its members fairly, equally, honestly and with dignity

and respect. A Fifa free of corruption and fully committed to

the developing of football across the globe. A Fifa that serves all

regions and understands their specific needs. A Fifa that works on

a case-by-case basis to elevate the game and maximise the potential of

all, no matter the size, no matter the challenges. My fellow

presidents, together we can restore Fifa's reputation, credibility and

legitimacy. The new Fifa is your Fifa. Under my leadership, we will

reverse the pyramid and put the priorities of our national

associations at the top. We will return Fifa to what it is intended

to be, a service organisation for football. Good governance will

become the norm, from transparency and accountability to the highest

ethical standards. Development will be meaningful and far reaching, with

the ultimate goal of self sustainability for national

associations. Clubs and leaks and other stakeholders will have a place

at the table. After all, they are the backbone of our sport. The game

and its players will be protected from any form of exploitation. World

Cups will be allowed to grow responsibly and progressively to

reflect the growth of the game. Our financial foundations will be

strengthened and our social responsibilities will be robust and

meaningful. I will steer Fifa towards stability and normality,

while continuing to expand the great game of football across the globe. I

am the only candidate who consistently demonstrated at you

that will make a lasting difference. I am a candidate who will represent

Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. I am not here to champion

the needs of one region over another and nor will I subvert the needs of

developing FAs in favour of those that are more established. I am one

of you. Together, we can make history by electing the first Fifa

president who comes directly from a member associations. A president

that opens a door for all of you. I am the only candidate for football

in all its forms, all over the world. As Fifa president, I will

serve all Fifa associations equally. I will bridge divides. I will heal

the rifts within our governing body and together, we can restore Fifa's

image and credibility, through hard work, good governance, openness and

inclusivity. I entered this campaign as an independent candidate beholden

to know one. As President, I will be beholden to no one but you, our

national associations. I'm indebted to all of you who have shared your

concerns, ideas and aspirations. We, this Congress, are the custodians of

the game. We have to take a united stand against the status quo, not

only for the next generation but also for today's players and fans,

who expect so much of us. Together, in accordance with Fifa's mission,

we will develop the game, touch the world and build a better future.

Today, you have the power to build the Fifa that the game truly

deserves. Thank you. APPLAUSE

You are watching our special coverage here on BBC World News as

five candidates bid to lead world football. We're bringing you

everything from the special congress in Zurich today, as we watch the

candidates. You've just been seeing since Ali build al Hussein saying he

is the only candidate who has demonstrated a genuine commitment to

reform and saying he's not here to champion one region over another.

This, of course, a landmark presidential contest. The delegates

have already overwhelmingly endorsed a package of reforms to world

football's very troubled governing body. Let's keep listening. Good

afternoon. I was thinking before I came here today whether to speak

through a statement or just be myself. The real me, who I am. Who I

am when I come and talk to you as a confederation or national

association. I think it's better to speak from the heart, rather than be

dictated. In the beginning, if I want to talk about myself, I think

everybody knows me around Fifa as of the Confederation. And of course a

vice president of Fifa and people in Asia recall me as being a national

association president for 15 years. I've always been elected since 1998

and if I want to talk about my track record, then my track record speaks

for itself. Everybody understands what Asia went through in the last

few years. We went through the same ordeal that some of the

confederations and probably fever is going through right now. But I think

with unity, understanding and tolerance we've seen how Asia has

changed from 2013 up to now. We've looked at our competitions, we've

looked at our reforms, whether it's the women's representation, the age

limit, term limit, integrity check that Fifa has and even the electoral

guidelines as well that the AFC has. It just shows you that we started a

bit early. But, again, coming to what Fifa has done in the past few

months, I think we have to salute the 400 people that are working

there in difficult times. They've done a terrific job, whether through

the organising of the competitions, the meetings, etc, and they've been

through difficult times, so my heart and thanks goes to them. And today,

of course, we're happy as Asians, as well as being part of all the

confederations today, but we've passed the resolutions of reforms.

We had a meeting on the 17th of February in Kuala Lumpur to discuss

it in detail but this is a first step. This is not the end of the

reforms. This is just the beginning. And I'm sure there's a lot to come.

But being together, consulting with each other on what's best for the

future of Fifa, is the main thing. The unity that we have to establish

is not just because today we have five candidates going for a post and

everybody has the right to do so in this important day, but tomorrow we

have to show to the rest of the world that we're going to work for

the benefit of this organisation and for the rest of the football

development around the world. Talking about developments, I think

it's important to us all when we've talked about the programmes that

Fifa has introduced in the past few decades. Without it, I think a lot

of you won't be able even to develop the game or even operate, and this

has been always a priority to most nations around the world. And I

understand that very well, coming from Asia, trying to close the gap

between the smaller countries and the big ones is vital. And it's a

priority for us, for the sake of solidarity, to help the smaller

nations. How can we bridge the gap between the small and the bigger

ones? And in Asia, we've seen that. We've demonstrated that. And we see

it like countries like Kurdistan, a small country that in the past two

years haven't played a World Cup qualifier with the focus. Today they

were able to make their biggest upset in the World Cup qualifiers.

And other countries, like qualm and the Philippines, and I think this is

all due to the focus that we need to concentrate on the smaller

countries. -- Guam. Yes, the smaller nations have their own priorities

but the bigger nations as well have their other priorities which have

regard to reforms, transparency and I think we've shown that today, that

we are all eager and determined to take that road. But coming to the

finances, and I'm glad today the acting general secretary has

mentioned a few details about what Fifa's going through. And when we

give promises, we have to be realistic as well and I think I met

a lot of the con figuration is -- confederations and I told them my

real feeling about it and I think today it proves that what I've been

saying in the past few weeks and months is the reality. We have to

act responsibly, not just... STUDIO: You are watching the

favourite for the Fifa presidency speaking in sera could the moment.

We will say goodbye to viewers on BBC Two but continuing coverage of

the Fifa election in this BBC News special. I think it's important that

we make sure that this organisation is run with responsibility and

that's our duty. A little talk of the World Cup. I

think this is a topic that a lot of you thought but in the last few

months, whether to have the same number of 32 teams or increase it to

40. It has been requested by the reform committee as well. We have

discussed it, and the ethical committee. I am sure that if the

right justification is there, yes, we will also bought it. It is not

just about numbers, it is about the details and justification, if we can

convince the others, whether the member associations, or the public,

that we're taking the right decisions. And I am sure we will

look to the benefit of all with regard to matter. But in doing so,

we have to include everyone. The inclusiveness of all the

stakeholders of football, when we talk about the professional leagues,

the clubs, NGOs and I think this is the purpose of having this

stakeholder Council. Not just that, I think we have to bring in the

years as well, to create a youth council because the younger

generation have to have a say in the future of Fifa. We should not keep

them out. And I hope that if I am elected, with the support of the

Council, I will be able to do so. The power and the reforms we have

discussed today is not just for the president. I think the president is

one man and is the head of the council. First of all I have to

convince the council that each decision we take is the right ones

in that those decisions are passed. And later on in the Congress with

your blessing as well because it has to be teamwork, and it has to be

done through convincing all of us that we are on the right track. The

game at the end, I will just refer that I am one of you, elected in the

National Association for 15 years, and elected in April this

year 's thank you for joining us president see,, each giving a 15

minute address to the gates before the book. You earlier we had Prince

Ali. We are about to do it from Jerome Champagne. We will be about

to hear from Jerome Champagne. TRANSLATION: Ladies and gentlemen,

presidents of the committees, ladies and gentlemen representatives of the

Federation, presidents of Fifa federations, the campaign is now

over. The time for the decision has arrived. The campaign was an

opportunity to see a game for me and many of my friends. -- to see again

for me and many of my friends and hear the concerns that I heard when

I was in Fifa. Some of you are struggling to pay the bills, I have

in mind the president of a club in eastern Europe who can only dream

about his Warriors past because he cannot have a glorious present. Some

players telling stories of how they are badly paid or not paid at all.

Since 2012 in this campaign, I have pushed for a debate to highlight the

issues faced by Fifa and football. Sadly, no debate has taken place. So

the only way available to meet was doing these years to send you many

letters, maybe sometimes too long, trying to explain the problems we

are all facing and proposing real solutions to those problems. What is

the situation of football today? Let's speak about football.

Globalisation has been very good for our game. Without any doubt, I lived

in the USA when there was no leak and today look at the TV audiences

of World Cup matches, beating the NBA final of the season tie-breaking

matches. Look at China. Waking up, fantastically investing in football,

bringing their talents to China. Look at the map of football in the

world, changing with new names, kept their day,, Ross. Unfortunately in

football as in other activities globalisation comes with problems.

And the biggest problem we are facing in football is not only like

in the rest of society, imbalances, inequalities. Inequalities exist

between the continents. The legacy of history. A legacy of what

happened. In south American football there is more money today than 20

years ago but the gap with Europe has increased. The international

economic order for football is basically unfair. And raw materials

are taken from these continents in football, and appropriated by

others. The 20th -- 20 wealthiest clubs in the years have a turnover

of billions of euros while more than half of you survive in your F as

with less than $2 million a year. Not far from this building, there

are six football fields. Five natural, one of artificial. Nearly

as much, as many as the entire Democratic Republic of Congo with 80

million inhabitants of the great footballing nation. Division and

inequalities between continents, I grew up at time when the Berlin Wall

divided football yet football was unanimous, it was even possible for

an eastern European club to be champion of Europe. Is it possible

today in this united Europe where football is divided? And look at the

match level between geeks. The decline of uncertainty and

competitiveness in the comp additions. Now, ladies and gentlemen

commie must answer three questions. What kind of competition do you

want, to you want a sport like basketball, concentrated on a very

limited number of countries and leagues? And what I have said to

describe this utilisation, what I call the Marcus Rashford of the

game. Or do you want football to continue -- the NBA isation of the

game. Do you want football to continue as it has done under Sepp

Blatter who understood that football could not remain Unicenter and that

the organisation had to adjust to this? Do you want Fifa to remain a

federation of football associations that belong to you? Do you want it

to remain at the point of balance in the world today? And I say this with

a lot of French about respect to our colleagues from Uefa. Football has

developed in 40 years, we need to make sure it remains a strong

activity. I want to quote the president of the Caribbean

Association who said recently, without Fifa we would be just

sitting on the couch watching European leagues. What kind of

person do you want to lead you? We need someone with the experience,

the vision, and an unblemished background, capable of turning the

page the controversies we have been facing and going through in the past

years and months. Someone capable of reducing rather than enhancing

attention and bad attention on Fifa. We also need someone with a

programme that is not full of smoke and mirrors. My programme hasn't

been endorsed by politicians, it has been endorsed by persons like Pele,

Marco van Basten and others. I have never proposed financial schemes

that would endanger Fifa's situation. I told you it would be

dangerous. Regarding the World Cup with 40 teams, fine, but we must

remember the consequences and difficulties of the World Cup in

Brazil. And think of the calendar which is today so overcharged. With

me Fifa will be modern necrotic. I will continue the rebalancing

between the continents, directors coming from everywhere in the world.

I will of course implement the separation of governmental functions

and economic activities that I have been claiming for since 2012. And I

will have more debates with you. I would like to continue a more

transparent Fifa. One with more solidarity and development

programmes. This is why I have proposed two double financial

assistance programme to only one of those federations which allows

budgets. Why? Because we have to be cautious. I second what Sheikh

Salman has said. We need to be cautious in these current moments.

More technical assistance to all of you, how to improve the management

of clubs, of leagues, how to improve your federations. 400 artificial

fields. I commit myself to doing that. I know how to do it because

one I was in charge of win Africa with the FA Cup programme, we build

54. And also we have to think of the small federations around the world

from islands and to bail out those suffering from huge trust petition

-- dishes. With me, I want participation of everyone. I want a

newcomer edition for women, a women's World Cup to make sure that

at the end of my mandate we will have a national women's league in

every country. And I want to create a division for women's football. A

more professional Fifa. You have seen the reforms we have adopted

creating the stakeholders committee. I think we should go further. We

need representatives of the clubs, leagues and players at the table of

the council. A good step, but not enough. We can't run the game in the

21st century without having stakeholders on board. If you trust

me I will immediately launch a world bargaining agreement to modernise

the transport system, to trace the fans regarding transfers and make

sure that for all the training clubs in the world, they will receive the

Duke solidarity mechanism in the Fifa regulations. And I will create

a proper division for professional football because we need to better

attend the needs at the top of football, use their knowledge and

expertise to trigger it down to all the leagues and the clubs and

football associations in the world. The past days, weeks, and months, we

received recommendations, Russia, but now the vote is secret and its

secrecy is protected. The comfort according to your conscience. But

vote for the candidate who is truly independent, vote for the candidate

where the knowledge of the world and football, notably the complex issues

of global as Asian, vote for the candidate with the experience of

Fifa's operations. I've been here 11 years and I know what's been done

correctly in the last 40 years and I know what needs to be changed. I

understand inequality and I remember the fight we faced to bring the

first World Cup to Africa. I know the need to protect players and

training clubs. Put the candidate who has shown constantly fidelity to

Fifa, never attacked it, but never attacked the leaders. Constantly

showing fidelity to the game. Vote for the candidate with an

unblemished record, a candidate who would be an active president.

Reforms have just been adopted that much remains to be done. Changes are

needed to the substance and know the image of Fifa. We need to make sure

that Fifa remains strong. But it stays united in that factional group

of interest in continental issues do not break the pyramid. -- and they

don't break the pyramid. We need further, more substantial reforms,

I've mentioned some of them. We need diplomacy and perseverance to

achieve these goals. We need to understand that in the world of

today which is so divided and unfair, look at what happened in the

streets of Paris, in a hotel in Burkina Faso, in Nigeria and the

Middle East. The ones who want to divide us, forget one thing, we have

football to show that what unites us is more important than what divides

us. We are united thanks to the World Cup, because every four years

we have this moment of world communion we can be proud of

ourselves, our colours, and be together and respect each other.

Above all, the image. I served Fifa for 11 years. I served nearly all of

remember when I was in charge of that, you could call me on a

Saturday and you had an answer on the Monday. We need to be stored

Fifa is a strong organisation -- restore Fifa to the strong

organisation it has been since May 21 1904. Now I need your help to

accomplish these goals. I thank you very much for your attention.

Jerome Champagne just ending his bid to lead world football. Thanks for

joining us for our special coverage here on BBC World News and BBC News

here in the UK, as five candidates make their bids to bid football's

world governing body, Fifa. They've each been given 15 minutes to

address delegates before the voting takes place and approaching the

stage right now is Gianni Infantino, one of the favourites to win this

contest. Mr President, members of the executive committee, dear

delegates, today here in front of you I would like to speak to you

with my heart. TRANSLATION: Speaking in Italian.

That is the language of my parents. They have transmitted to me the

values of life. The difference and to be able to differentiate between

the good and the bad, and respect for people and respect for work. I

then grew up in Switzerland, the German part of Switzerland, and I've

also learned some virtues there - order, discipline, reliability - and

then, of course, Romany Swiss, French-speaking Swiss. Freedom,

equality, fraternity, something that is very important also in the world

of football. And, of course, then Spain, South America, Latin America,

the big, hard passion. Life but also football. All these principles, all

these values, our principles and values that I take with me and that

I took with me through my life. And if all of this, something happened.

The destiny, the fete, everything happens for a reason. The destiny

which brought me some months ago to start a journey, an exciting

journey, a fantastic journey, in the middle of all of you. They journey

which I was not thinking to embrace five months ago. I was not thinking

to be a candidate for the Fifa presidency. I was not thinking to be

here in front of you today but many things have happened in the last few

months. Fifa is in a crisis situation, a difficult situation.

The reputation and image of Fifa is tarnished and with a situation this

difficult, dear friends, you have to choices. You hide or you stand up.

You hide and you wait until it passes or you stand up and you try

to do the right thing. For me, to hide has never been an option. I

always wanted to act. And I'm not afraid of taking my responsibilities

and go ahead and do what is right to do. Do what is right to do for

football, do what is right to do for Fifa, because Fifa needs football,

now more than ever. And that's why I started this journey. Around the

world, on the 27th of October, the day after the announcement of my

candidacy, I was in Africa. I was in Cairo at the executive committee and

I ended the journey on Monday this week in Northern Ireland, from Cape

to Cairo. I spent a very emotional day with Tokyo Sexwale, who showed

me what football can bring, what football has brought in Northern

Ireland to people have no hope, who had no life, no vision any more. It

has brought them home, life and vision for the future. And this has

to be reflected all over the world. Believe me. In Africa, certainly.

TRANSLATION: And I see with my own eyes what is taking place in Africa,

what can be done. I looked at the eyes of children in Africa, holding

a football into their hands. What we can do, what Fifa has been able to

do for Africa, we can do a lot for Africa in terms of development of

football, investing in infrastructure, for travel costs for

teams. We have to help Africa. And Portuguese is also being spoken in

Africa. What we need to do is also to bring back football and develop

football in those countries of Africa where Portuguese is being

spoken. My journey brought me to South America. TRANSLATION: The

passion, the heart of football. The world has to thank South America for

what South America has done and is doing for football, the quality of

players. Ten member associations. This is a small confederation, the

smallest in terms of numbers, but when it comes to football it is the

largest and we have to thank them, thanks as American football for what

they are doing, and we also have to look to South American football to

maintain their talent at home in South America, to develop the talent

in South America and to continue to work with the teams in order to

improve South American football. To the south, to the north, a very

exciting confederation, of course the Spanish speakers... Translation

completely crazy about football. But infrastructure is missing. We need

to be on the ground. Fifa has to be there to help. In particular in

difficult, testing times like these, Fifa must not hold back. Fifa must

be on the ground, by your side to help football. Is a confederation

where we have the smallest members, Montserrat, and the biggest one,

United States, with 300 million in that confederation on of course they

have different needs. Of course we must act in different ways to

develop football in the United States or in Montserrat but it's

important to go to the knighted state and to Montserrat and they

went to the United States and to Montserrat to see what is needed. --

the United States. And they met many people who have the passion for

football, who breathe football, live football, love football, who want a

new era for football, who want real investment in football. In the

Caribbean, they dream of the Caribbean league. Make that dream

come true, guys. Make it come true, the Caribbean league is something

that has great potential as far as I'm concerned, from having visited

many, many of your beautiful islands. And we can change football.

What can you say about Asia? A huge continent, a continent of diversity,

a rich continent of cultures. From east to the West, I'm told they have

nothing in common. It's not true. They have football in common. They

have the love of football in common, the passion for football in common

and if they manage to channel it, as China is doing now, and to focus on

the develop mental football, and Fifa will be there to help, then of

course Asia will become very, very strong. -- the development of

football. But Gianni 11, the ocean's 11, this was one of my first trips

to Papua New Guinea, a great experience. A great love for

football. Approach the kids in the schools. This is their World Cup.

The World Cup of taking kids out of the streets and putting them to play

football. Where is Fifa in this? Where is Fifa in these projects?

Fifa has to be there, to help, to assist the develop and football of

Oceania 11th. And then, of course, we come back to Europe. And in

Europe, there is a lot of expertise. Football is developed. But also in

Europe, there are big and small countries, there are rich and poor

countries, but Europe has to do much more for football. We have to break

down all these walls which exists between continents and we have to

build bridges instead. We have to get Europe to do much more than

commit it for Europe to do more in the world. We have training experts,

administrative experts, marketing experts, referees' instructors. They

have to travel around the world and help all the associations and this

will be done as of tomorrow, dear friends. Europe is also the

continent where I was educated, where I started to work, where I was

given a chance to work, and that's why, believe me, when I speak about

figures and when I propose figures, I know what I'm speaking about. I've

been managing Uefa for the last seven years. In the last seven

years, in a period of financial crisis, the revenues of Uefa went up

by almost three times. The distributions to the associations

increased as well very, very significantly. And I'm asking you

all, I'm asking you all, if Fifa generates 5 billion revenue, is it

normal that 1.2 billion cannot be distributed to you for reinvestment

in football? What does Fifa have to do with the money that Fifa

generates? It has to be reinvested in football. In my proposal, out of

5 billion, 1.2 has to be reinvested in football. It is 25%. Are you

seriously telling me it is a problem to put 25% of the revenues for the

regeneration of football? It is not because the money of Fifa is your

money. That is not the money of the Fifa president. It's your money. You

are the national associations and the money of Fifa has to serve for

the development of football and not for anything else and if we develop

football, the world will look at us and applaud us and say, you are

doing something sensible with your money. This is what we have to do.

And that's why I'm standing here in front of you, because I want to

bring football back to Fifa and Fifa back to football. We have been

speaking in the last month about many many things. Corruption,

courts, tribunal is, lawyers, whatever, police. We have to speak

again about football. We have to concentrate ourselves on football.

Of course we have to make the reforms, of course we have to be

transparent. I've been this for the last 15 years of my life in Uefa but

this will have to do it. You will have to participate, the national

associations, in the life of every day of Fifa. But then we need to do

what Fifa has to do, develop football, invest human resources and

financial resources in the development of football and for

this, we need a strongly do, a strong leader and the strong

leadership. And that's why I'm here. A leader alone, however, cannot do

anything. I will need you, each and every single one of you, and I will

be there for you every day and every night. So my pledge to you is, let's

bring Fifa forward together. Two minutes, please. I've finished.

APPLAUSE STUDIO: Gianni Infantino addressing

the delegates, standing off in a number of languages, French,

Italian, English as well. Just reminding the delegates that he

is indeed truly global citizen. Talking about how he wants to do the

right thing not just for football and for Fifa but for the fans. We're

moving through them quite quickly, the five candidates who are all

bidding to be the head of football's governing body. It is quite a day.

Fifa is saying today could be pivotal and a turning point for the

organisation. We have one more candidate to hear from, Tokyo

Sexwale from South Africa. He is approaching the stage now.

No, he is not, in fact. That was my imagination. I thought I could spot

him approaching. Here he is now just getting to his feet. We've heard

from Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Jerome Champagne, Jani and Santino

and shakes of Bahrain, who is currently the favourite. -- Gianni

Infantino and shake some of Bahrain. Mr President, if this is about

football, then it is also about extra time that I may get because

others left five minutes, another one left three, another one left

three and another one left one. So I hope you'll give me the referee's

optional time if I overrun! APPLAUSE

Mr President and all friends of Fifa's football family and

executive, dear comrades, distinguished guests, I do not stand

before you today as the leadership of football out there to teach you

anything about football. I have played football in Soweto in

South Africa. I have played football in prison. I've played football in

the Army, I know how to teach football. Three days ago, I had a

son born. And very soon when he is able to walk, I will throw a ball

and teach him how to play football. I dedicate what I am saying to that

little boy today. I cannot teach this leadership about football. The

reason we're here today, the is on the wall. Extraordinary! -- the

writing is on the wall. That is why we are here. The Fifa president is

not elected every nine months, we met nine months ago and we elected a

president, I never dreamt I would become one. Myself and my

colleagues, I find myself in a distinguished group of people, none

of us have thought we would be here. You brought us here. Your nominated

us. I want to thank the South African football Association which

dared to say, go for it. I also want to honour those countries that gave

me further impetus by giving me the necessary approval to present before

the electoral committee of Fifa, for me to come this far. I am here

today. People have been saying, Tokyo, withdraw. And the soldier, I

die with my boots on. You don't withdraw in football. Maybe people

who want to withdraw arranged to withdraw money from paying accounts,

we don't do that. I came this far because if you are given a mission,

you go at their computer to turnaround in some small mission

somewhere, you discharge the mission. I am here today. I say

these are extraordinary times because Fifa is faced with this

extraordinary congress. And what makes it extraordinary is because we

lost a president, and then we lost the Secretary General. Jerome

Valcke. Then we lost Michel Platini. Then we lost 14 leaders in the hotel

where we are staying. And then another 16. Extraordinary means

crisis. So we can't talk about football today. We are talking about

the problems which made us come here, nine months after we had taken

the decision to elect a president. And I am sorry about what happened

to our friends. These friends committees are family. I know it is

easy to dismiss them, when people are in trouble, you them away.

Nelson Mandela taught us, never rejoice in the pain and misery of

others. I hope they are able to resolve their problems, and one day

we can see them as different people. But where the law is broken, it will

take its own course here. The word crisis, tonnage image, chaos, this

morning, BBC, toxic climate. This is us today. That's what we came to

rectify here, that's what we came to fix, our own family of Fifa. I've

been coming into this city, is to president, for 11 years, into the

city, as a member of Fifa. You put me in the Fifa Fairplay committee

for the first time. And fair play is supposed to be on the field and off

the field. We have problems. You delegates put me in the media

committee I am in right now. Our chairman taught me to look at Fifa

differently because we get reports from across the world about this

beautiful game. You put me on the antiracism task force. And I say in

my manifesto that the task force should become a permanent Fifa

standing committee because racism will be with us for a long, long

time. It can't just be a committee that comes out of. And last time

from this platform my name was mentioned to lead the most difficult

task we are faced with, you, Congressmen and congresswomen of

Fifa. It is Palestine and Israel. I will be reporting to the next

Congress in Mexico. About the progress we are making. People are

dying in that part of the world. All we are saying is, hold the tax so

that we can allow football to find a place. -- hold the tanks. The

difference together for two presidents who were here last time

from Palestine and from Israel. They are doing their best us to try to

solve the problem of Palestine and Israel. I ask you to do that.

APPLAUSE Football is not broken. Football is

fine. The other day, on stage, whistle Lionel Messi and Ronaldo on

stage for the Ballon d'Or. Football isn't broken. It is being played. It

has problems, it must be developed, it must be grown. There must be

changes. It must begin to reflect the kind of world in which we live,

where others have got better as a lit is. Africa must begin as well to

benefit from what Uefa ceiling, the Oceana nations of the world. The

task must begin to change the playing fields from brown patches to

green pictures. -- pitches. This is the challenge of football. There I

have, as you can see, my top 11. My strike team is four, four, two. You

like that? APPLAUSE

My goal is better governance. I don't have to say anything about

corporate governance. Antiracism, there is no football as long as

people are divided in the world. Neymar cannot play football if he

and Rooney look upon each other as enemies. That's why I say the task

force, antiracism, ought to be made permanent, if we are serious, no

slips when people are suffering racially. My strike team. My

midfield, I just want to touch on one, the one that brought us here,

the World Cup allocations. Mr President, I think it should be the

last time that the World Cup is allocated to two countries at the

same time, Qatar and Russia. What has happened has happened but I do

not think the World Cup should again be awarded to two different

countries at the same time because this is what brought us here. The

World Cup has got to be shared. Much as my own country was able to get

the World Cup in 2010, many other countries should get it. May it be

done in an open democratic transparent manner and not under the

tables. The whole thing is to restore the integrity. That is my

midfield, the integrity of Fifa. That is what is damaged and that

what makes this conference to be extraordinary. There is no football

without sponsors. I have been a sponsor, I'm a business person in my

other life, I never give money without checking where it is going.

The sponsors have every right to call us to account for their funds.

S caution, caution to the sponsors. Talk about corruption, talk about

it, point fingers but to not get so close is to tell us what kind of

president should be chosen. I propose a Fifa advisory board in

line with the reforms we have adopted. The world today is

watching, and good governance and best practice today demands an

international body that will be watching. I'm putting that on the

table of the next president. An international advisory board of

independent, credible, respectable people, who meet just once a year,

and report back to us in openness about how we are convinced of

conducting ourselves. I propose that. Football is about development.

That's my strike team. But development, about players. At the

end of the day it is the players, the players, these other people

people come to watch. Their protection for me is most important.

That our good agents of football and bad ones, particularly in Europe,

they help us. They bring the kids with promises of turning them into

stars, protect the children from football child trafficking. That's

my strike team. Protect football where it isn't protected. We are

here today because we want to repair what has gone wrong. We are here

today because of president will have to be elected. One of us is going to

become a president today. Four of us will not be president. For me, if it

is Gianni it is a party. If it is Sheikh Salman, it's a party. If it

is Jerome it's a party. If it is Prince Ali, it's a party. Of course

if it was me it would be a great party!

APPLAUSE Mr Chairman, elections are about

resentment. Might last parting word is the following. Our house is under

attack. Pressures, media litigation, all things that are making us feel,

let's stay together, hold the line. The world is waiting. They think

this is the end of Fifa. I believe there is an organisation called and

Fifa now. I came here to join you so that we turn back fat attack on us

and remain united and leave here as a United family of football. I am a

candidate of consensus. I am a candidate of unity. Reflect the

views of my country as a candidate of consolidation. You don't have to

elect me as president. I've got a surprise for you. My campaign ends

today. And I suspend my participation. I leave only four

people. It is your problem now. I leave only four people, Tokyo

Sexwhale will not go further to cause division because I am a

candidate of bringing people together. Out of the four, decide

which one you will elect as president, and I will say, under

such a man, one day I hope the president will be a woman. I believe

in unity. APPLAUSE

I believe in unity, the Mandela Way. Nelson Mandela taught us. I know

some people don't like us to quote him. I will speak until zero. I've

got to be careful, maybe I will get an optional time from the referee, I

don't know! When your house is under attack, Nelson Mandela once said to

me, when we are subjected to the kind of things that we seeing, the

media, the police, the FBI, everybody, it is not the right

moment to begin to start a fire in your own house. I am here to join

all of you who stand behind that President to make sure that we are

led by a man who is prepared to take us out of the morass where we are,

so that we regain the trust of the public and the community out there,

so that Fifa goes back to being the kind of credible organisation that

it was when it was founded. Thank you very much. For bringing us

this far. It was a good run for me to participate alongside the others.

I am prepared to serve under the next president. My campaign is

suspended. I thank you. APPLAUSE

STUDIO: Well, the first big shock of the day in Zurich.

Tokyo Sexwale from South Africa actually suspending his candidacy

for the top job at football's world governing body, saying he is

prepared to serve underneath the next president. We're now down to

four candidates. He made a few statements and got a few laughs, the

only candidate to do so, but said that "Our house is under attack and

we must hold the line". Speaking right to time, Tokyo Sexwale, but he

is suspending his candidacy. Thanks so much for joining us for this BBC

News as special as we count down to that election of the next Fifa

president, the head of football's world governing body. Remember, he

will replace Sepp Blatter who was at the centre of corruption allegations

when he stepped down last year. We have now heard from all of the

candidates. The voting will begin shortly. We'll be taking you through

it throughout the day here on the BBC. With me in the studio is a

football consultant and a representative of Transparency

International. Watching the candidates was Katie Gornall, who

joins us from Zurich. So, Katie, as shock. We have orally got one

candidate who has stepped down. There is no denying who has stolen

the show so far. That was a very entertaining speech from Tokyo

Sexwale. It's interesting because he's been criticised for leading a

lacklustre campaign so far so I think if he'd shown some of that

passion earlier in his campaign, he might have done a little better but

no one really expected him to win. His certainly provided the most

entertaining moment of the speeches. He is withdrawing from the race so

the run out just for candidates and the two front runners are Sheikh

Salman and Gianni Infantino. Sheikh Salman gave quite a serious speech

and said he was speaking from the heart. He said he understood the

responsibility of taking Fifa forward, that he would bankrupt

Fifa, he would take care of the finances. That was seen as a bit of

a dig to his main rival, Jani and Santino, whose main pledge of his

election campaign has been to increase the amount of money he

would give to develop football in different countries. Gianni

Infantino's speech was interesting. I was struck by a number of things

he said. He went seamlessly from French, Spanish, Italian and English

and gave the translators a lot of work to do. He gave a very

impassioned speech and addressed some of the criticisms he's faced

from his rival about the financial situation. He also went round the

various different confederations and mentioned his trip to Robben Island

with Tokyo Sexwale as an appeal to African voters. He went to each and

every confederation. He also said that he doesn't see why, when Fifa

has a turnover of $5 billion that 25 the scent of that can't be shared

out among the confederations. He said the money belongs to you,

speaking to the delegates, not the president. That got round of

applause. Whether it will be enough to sway the vote his way, we will

have to wait and see. What happens now? When will voting get under way?

Now that all the candidates have given their speeches, there will be

a short break and then the voting will get under way very soon. It's

going to take, we think, around one hour and 40 minutes to two hours per

round of voting. Each country gets called up alphabetically. They will

collect their slip. They'll have to leave their phone outside the booth

so that there can't be any accusation of them trying to take a

photo of their voting slip to prove who they voted for two try and exert

some political pressure, perhaps, once the result is announced. But

each country will go forward, they will place their vote and then go

back to their seat. There are 207 eligible voters in this election. We

think voting will take around one hour and ten minutes. It will take

around half an hour to count those votes by the people overseeing at

all, so probably about two hours until we get the result of the first

round. If there is a two thirds majority at that point, a winner

will be declared. If not, it will go through a second round, the process

will start again, but in subsequent rounds it just needs a simple

majority, so 50% plus one. Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, the head of the

Asian Federation, a controversial candidate who has had to deny human

rights abuses in the build-up to the selection, is considered the front

runner at the moment. We will have to see whether any of that

last-minute lobbying by the other candidates has swayed some of the

other votes their way. Stay with us. I want to bring in Alexandr Britain

reflect on some of what we've just heard. Alex, every candidate was

keen to make the point that this is a pivotal moment for Fifa. Do you

think this is their chance to start afresh? I do but I'm not optimistic

it will happen. I worked at Saatchi it will happen. I worked at Saatchi

Saatchi and we produced an ad that said "Labour isn't working". We

could adapt that to say Fifa isn't working and what we've heard today

does not give me any hope that it will be working in the future. What

Fifa needs basically is revolution and what we've heard is a tacit

acknowledgement of some form of evolution, which is not sufficient.

Given the extent of corruption we've seen at Fifa, do you think they can

be trusted to reform themselves? I find it hard to believe that they

can. They could take some steps that would win over people to the view

that they could do it and I think that a couple of the candidates did

talk about independent oversight. If it wasn't just within the football

family... We've had reforms within the football family for far too long

but haven't actually produced the goods so I think we really do need

to have independent people checking that the reforms actually go through

and are implemented. Katie, let's talk about the Raft of reforms. They

were approved pretty quickly and conclusively, too. What other forms

and how important are they? -- what are the reforms? In the build-up to

the elections, it was the Reform Party of the day that was touted as

the most important vote of the day. More important than the presidential

election. This reform package was considered key to Fifa's future. If

they rejected it, that might affect Fifa's status as a victim of

corruption by the US department of justice as their investigation into

corruption in fever continues. If they lose that status, they could

face being dissolved so vitally important that they got pushed

through and in the build president said to all of the candidates, urged

them to pass it, saying, this is Fifa's chance to show it is

listening to the world so those reforms were past. They needed 75%

approval and got 89 present but they improve things like limiting the

term of the president, things like disclosing salaries, including at

least six women on the committee, all things designed to make Fifa

more transparent and accountable as an organisation but many feel that

those reforms just don't go far enough. Thanks for that. We will

look at the live pictures now and the voting is getting under way.

They are moving things swiftly along in Zurich now we've heard from all

the candidates. Alex, just to reflect a bit more on the reforms,

which many people say or Porton -- important than the election of the

president. I heard people say, what is the point of painting the house

when the foundations of the house are still so shaky? Why don't you

think they can do it? Because the keynote is set at the top and what

the philosophy and the policy is of the top man permeates down and

that's the key. So everything really depends on who is going to be

elected as the top man. So you don't have faith in any of these four

candidates? They are... Well, let's say that they're a poor bunch in

terms of representing who could represent football. For example, the

powerhouse of football is Europe but there's resentment that Europe are

on their traditional role and there for telling people what to do and

there are key people in Europe and the people in Europe who matter are

the clubs. The clubs are the most important in this element because

they provide the players and they provide the money but where are the

big men at the European clubs standing? They're not, they're

absent. Can I mention the fancier, Debra, because they haven't been

referred to much today. How much do the fans care about what is

happening at Fifa? It's hard to say except we did do a poll and we did

it on a football up and we polled over 25,000 fans and 69% said they

didn't have any trust in Fifa. -- football app. That is a benchmark is

not very optimistic for Fifa. They did say that the scandals were

hurting their enjoyment of football, 43% said that. That must be a real

worry. I would say that is a real worry for people in football because

of the fans don't enjoy what goes on on the pitch, why bother? They.

Paying for their subscriptions on TV, they. Buying the branded

footballs, they. Wanting the World Cup. I don't think we are anywhere

close to that and I wouldn't say that that is an issue but it is a

message. The damage to the brand has been huge. Absolutely. People in

football hate the term brand being applied to it but a brand is

something that is created in the mind, full of emotional and

irrational values, and the Fifa brand has been undermined to such an

extent that is has no value. How do you restore that value? By playing

on the one element that it has, the World Cup, and realising that the

World Cup is of all importance. But picking up a point that Deborah made

earlier, are Fifa good enough to self regulate? That is a question

that many people have asked in many aspects of football and I would have

to say that I very much doubt whether they can solve regulate.

There are a couple of really wild and really wacky suggestions as to

house of regulation could be applied. One is that Fifa could

become a plc, the other is, of course, but we hope that the

American investigation might find fault and they have to start afresh.

Thank you so much. Let's remind you what we're seeing. A voting booth as

the delegates go to cast their votes. It's a very secret process.

You are not allowed to take photos in the booth. Everyone has to leave

their mobile phones behind. There are no only four candidates after

Tokyo Sexwale stepped down. We will continue our coverage here on BBC

World News. Do stay with