Yannik
Senior Member
Here is some information about the candidates that I gathered for you from several media reports and that I translated.
The official candidates are not final until may, but these are the 4 guys who are currently in for the race.
I hope that i am englishing this well, sorry for potential mistakes but Ithat this might be understandable for everyone.
Luis Figo (Dismissed in support of Prince Ali)
Election manifesto:
Opinion towards the Qatar WC:
Figo says he doesnt find any negative thing about it, as long as it is not proven that there was corruption involved.
Estimated chances:
Around 5% maybe, He will try to squeeze a few Blatter-votes from south america and some other non-european continents but his main votership will be a couple of nostalgic people who find that a legendary footballer should be the head of a football federation. However many people don't think he would be serious enough for such a task and intelligent enough to lead the biggest sport federation in the world. Also his electoral manifesto looks quite slim. You'd get the impression of him not grappling about the majority of problems that FIFA has to deal with. He is inexperienced and might not have the slightiest clue of what to actually expect from this position.
Michael van Praag (Dismissed in support of Prince Ali)
Election manifesto:
Opinion towards the Qatar WC:
Van Praag is backing the WC in Qatar.
Estimated chances:
Around 3% maybe. He will have the western-, Blatter-hating nations behind him, also a couple of smaller nations in the rest of europe. He is however the least self-campaigning candidate and doesnt have a lot of relations and friends in the world to vote for him. He's not as influental and therefor seems like the weakest candidate. Every country has the same power in this election, regardless of relevance and size and despite Van Praag might be a slight favourite in some important football nations, he would only have a fraction of what is needed.
Sepp Blatter
Election manifesto:
Unlike his 3 opponents, Blatter has not yet released an electoral manifesto or even said something about it.
Opinion towards the Qatar WC:
Blatter had officially voted against a WC in Qatar, but has been backing it since it was elected. Questions remains if his Contra-Vote was a set-up to look less suspicious in case corruption is involved in this incident.
Estimated chances:
Around 80%. Everything else than the 5th consecutive reign of Sepp Blatter would be a surprise. The man has almost all of asia, africa, south america, oceania as friend. He is travelling around the globe, campaigning himself, shaking hands, act smooth, making compliments or also threat them if necessary. He is by far the msot powerful man in the roster with all sorts of connections. But the man is splitting the world. The amount of corruption claims is immense, and he has a large opposition against him. But this opposition will be distributed between Prince Ali, Figo and Van Praag and in the end noone might end up with a relevant amount of votes to trouble Blatter.
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein
Election manifesto:
There has not been a detailed manifesto yet, but he has already mentioned a couple of things he wants to adress
Opinion towards the Qatar WC:
Prince Ali is fully backing the Qatar Worldcup (what a surprise), on question wether he would intensify the observations about the elections, he answered with "no comment".
Estimated chances:
Around 12% maybe. He is the most powerful opponent to Blatter. He is agressive and a born politician, has been working in FIFA before, has connections, and money for a campaign.
I think what Prince Ali could do is trying to convince Van Praag and Figo to only send 1 of them into the ring with Blatter, to maximize their chances (their election manifesto isnt that different after all, they all mainly want Blatter's ass on a plate), which might be the only realistic way to end his reign. He is basically tryin to be "the first guy you have to vote, when not voting for Blatter". He will manage to steal a respectable amount of Blatter-votes from asia, and europe. And of course muslims will love him because he is muslim.
On a contrary said, there is the rumor, that he is just the tool of Platini. Prince Ali has ridiculed this claim a couple of times.
Big question though is wether a member of the royal family in jordan - a country with constitutional monarchy and limited freedom of expression - can actually talk about, transpareny, rainbows, discrimination, racism, unicorns and ethic while looking credible. Also many people are against the WC in Qatar, and might get the impressio that voting for al-Hussein would be equivalent of voting the Emir of Qatar himself.
Thats it. Feel free to tell me if i forgot something or if you see mistakes.
The official candidates are not final until may, but these are the 4 guys who are currently in for the race.
I hope that i am englishing this well, sorry for potential mistakes but Ithat this might be understandable for everyone.
Luis Figo (Dismissed in support of Prince Ali)
Election manifesto:
- World Cup Reform:
Larger WC with 40/48 teams in the roster (8/16 others from non-european countries), Host and Reigning Champion is already qualified
2 Group Stages with each 20/24 teams on two different continents, followed by a KO-Stage in ONE country. - Redistribution of FIFA funds:
1bn EUR over 4 years shared between all 209 members of the FIFA, supposed to be for youth developing purposes.
Opinion towards the Qatar WC:
Figo says he doesnt find any negative thing about it, as long as it is not proven that there was corruption involved.
Estimated chances:
Around 5% maybe, He will try to squeeze a few Blatter-votes from south america and some other non-european continents but his main votership will be a couple of nostalgic people who find that a legendary footballer should be the head of a football federation. However many people don't think he would be serious enough for such a task and intelligent enough to lead the biggest sport federation in the world. Also his electoral manifesto looks quite slim. You'd get the impression of him not grappling about the majority of problems that FIFA has to deal with. He is inexperienced and might not have the slightiest clue of what to actually expect from this position.
Michael van Praag (Dismissed in support of Prince Ali)
Election manifesto:
- Transparency and publication of Garcia's full FIFA report:
- Like Figo, a larger World Cup with 40 teams after 2026.
Including an extra team from every confederation + Host and Reigning Champion - Instant replay and utilising technology for referees
- ‘Presidents’ board’ with the presidents of all the confederations.
To help take decisions on important matters and in doing so, give FIFA and its structure its credibility back. - Implementation of an International referee and trainer academy
- Equality of women in football
Opinion towards the Qatar WC:
Van Praag is backing the WC in Qatar.
Estimated chances:
Around 3% maybe. He will have the western-, Blatter-hating nations behind him, also a couple of smaller nations in the rest of europe. He is however the least self-campaigning candidate and doesnt have a lot of relations and friends in the world to vote for him. He's not as influental and therefor seems like the weakest candidate. Every country has the same power in this election, regardless of relevance and size and despite Van Praag might be a slight favourite in some important football nations, he would only have a fraction of what is needed.
Sepp Blatter
Election manifesto:
Unlike his 3 opponents, Blatter has not yet released an electoral manifesto or even said something about it.
Opinion towards the Qatar WC:
Blatter had officially voted against a WC in Qatar, but has been backing it since it was elected. Questions remains if his Contra-Vote was a set-up to look less suspicious in case corruption is involved in this incident.
Estimated chances:
Around 80%. Everything else than the 5th consecutive reign of Sepp Blatter would be a surprise. The man has almost all of asia, africa, south america, oceania as friend. He is travelling around the globe, campaigning himself, shaking hands, act smooth, making compliments or also threat them if necessary. He is by far the msot powerful man in the roster with all sorts of connections. But the man is splitting the world. The amount of corruption claims is immense, and he has a large opposition against him. But this opposition will be distributed between Prince Ali, Figo and Van Praag and in the end noone might end up with a relevant amount of votes to trouble Blatter.
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein
Election manifesto:
There has not been a detailed manifesto yet, but he has already mentioned a couple of things he wants to adress
- Transparency
- Country FAs, players, coaches and referees should have more importance in decisions concerning the FIFA
- Wants to improve the FIFA with an ethical clean work-model
- Intensifying the fight against racism, discriminationa nd violence
Opinion towards the Qatar WC:
Prince Ali is fully backing the Qatar Worldcup (what a surprise), on question wether he would intensify the observations about the elections, he answered with "no comment".
Estimated chances:
Around 12% maybe. He is the most powerful opponent to Blatter. He is agressive and a born politician, has been working in FIFA before, has connections, and money for a campaign.
I think what Prince Ali could do is trying to convince Van Praag and Figo to only send 1 of them into the ring with Blatter, to maximize their chances (their election manifesto isnt that different after all, they all mainly want Blatter's ass on a plate), which might be the only realistic way to end his reign. He is basically tryin to be "the first guy you have to vote, when not voting for Blatter". He will manage to steal a respectable amount of Blatter-votes from asia, and europe. And of course muslims will love him because he is muslim.
On a contrary said, there is the rumor, that he is just the tool of Platini. Prince Ali has ridiculed this claim a couple of times.
Big question though is wether a member of the royal family in jordan - a country with constitutional monarchy and limited freedom of expression - can actually talk about, transpareny, rainbows, discrimination, racism, unicorns and ethic while looking credible. Also many people are against the WC in Qatar, and might get the impressio that voting for al-Hussein would be equivalent of voting the Emir of Qatar himself.
Thats it. Feel free to tell me if i forgot something or if you see mistakes.
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