Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa and Uefa General Secretary Gianni Infantino blew the race to succeed Sepp Blatter as Fifa president wide open on Monday as they announced their bids.
Swiss lawyer Infantino’s bid in particular will come as a huge blow to suspended Uefa president Michel Platini’s own faltering hopes as eight candidates confirmed they would be standing in the February election as Monday’s midnight deadline to submit bids approached.
Asian football chief Shaikh Salman pledged to get the scandal-tainted Fifa organisation “back on the right track”, but the biggest shock-waves were created by the multilingual Infantino, who has the “full backing” of Uefa’s Executive Committee.
Infantino’s announcement would appear to place Platini, who is currently serving a 90-day ban as investigations continue into a 1.8 million euro (Dh7.3m payment received from Fifa in 2011 without a written contract, in an uncomfortable position.
“We believe that Gianni Infantino has all of the qualities required to tackle the major challenges ahead and to lead the organisation on a path of reform to restore Fifa’s integrity and credibility,” said Uefa.
“We are delighted that Gianni has agreed to stand and he knows that he has our full support in his campaign to become Fifa President.”
Erstwhile favourite Platini officially remains a contender pending an examination of his candidacy when his ban ends on January 5.
Ten days ago, UEFA had pointedly failed to express explicit backing for its president after a crisis meeting at their headquarters in Nyon.
Infantino’s announcement casts doubt over Platini’s support within Uefa and poses the question on whether Infantino is being presented as a Plan B in case the former France star is prevented from standing.
Fifa’s electoral committee must judge the integrity of all candidates, meaning Platini’s bid could be compromised by his ban.
Platini’s lawyers confirmed he had had a first appeal against his ban rejected on Monday, but the case is still to go before Fifa’s appeals committee and his lawyers said they remained “convinced the appeals will eventually show his complete integrity and restore all his rights.”
Asian football chief Shaikh Salman also left it late to officially announce that he had entered the race to succeed Blatter.
The 49-year-old Bahraini royal has been the head of the Asian Football Confederation since 2013 and is familiar with Fifa from his role as a vice-president. He previously supported Platini’s bid.
Salman said in a statement that he had decided to run “out of a wish to put the international organisation back on the right track and in response to calls by many members of the football community.”
However, even without Infantino’s announcement, his chances of receiving the backing of European federations may not have been helped by the fact he has been heavily criticised by human rights campaigners for his role in suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations in Bahrain in 2011.
Al Nassr
Former World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro has been appointed as head coach of Saudi Arabian champion Al Nassr. The club say they have signed a contract with Cannavaro until the end of the season and that he will arrive in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Cannavaro replaces Jorge da Silva, who was dismissed on Friday following a 1-0 home defeat to Al Shabab. Cannavaro was replaced as coach of Guangzhou Evergrande in June after just seven months in charge.
Al Ahli
Al Ahli are free to contest the Asian Champions League final next month after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) rejected Al Hilal’s complaint that the Dubai club had fielded an ineligible player in last week’s semi-final second leg. Ahli had introduced Oussama Assaidi in the 70th minute of the match at the Rashid Stadium, which finished 3-2 to the hosts. However, Hilal said the Moroccan winger was not registered with the UAE Football Association and therefore not allowed to play. The AFC, though, turned down Hilal’s case. The Saudi Arabian club have the right to appeal the decision.
Barcelona
Barcelona will appeal the red card shown to Javier Mascherano in Sunday’s Primera Liga game against Eibar for verbally abusing a referee’s assistant, the Spanish and European champions said on Monday. Mascherano was dismissed in the 83rd minute of the 3-1 victory at the Nou Camp and the Argentina international, who mainly plays as a centreback but can also operate in midfield, could face a ban of up to four matches if the appeal is unsuccessful. That would mean he will be unavailable for some key games in Spain’s top flight, including the first of the season’s two ‘clasicos’, to be played at Real Madrid on November 21, and the match at home to Villarreal on November 8. Referee Carlos del Cerro Grande wrote in his match report he had sent Mascherano off for directing an insult, common in Argentina, towards the match official.
Levante
Struggling club Levante has dismissed coach Lucas Alcaraz after they fell to the bottom of the Primera Liga standings. Levante made the announcement after the team lost 4-0 at home to Real Sociedad on Sunday. The Valencia-based side are in last place after only one win in nine rounds. Alcaraz took over Levante one year ago and helped it avoid relegation last season. He is the second coach to be fired in Spain’s first division this season after Las Palmas replaced Paco Herrera with Quique Setien last week.
Manchester City
Manchester City have signed midfielder Luke Brattan from Brisbane Roar and loaned him to Championship club Bolton Wanderers, the Premier League leaders said on Monday. Born in England before moving to Australia at a young age, the Brattan, 25, played for Brisbane for five years. He has appeared for the Australian Under-20 team and was called up to the senior squad for the first time in August. Bolton are bottom of the Championship after drawing 1-1 at home to Leeds United on Saturday.
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