Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa will run Asian football for the next two years after the Bahraini won a three-way election for the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Thursday.
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa from Bahrain was made the favourite to become FIFA's new president in February's election by bookmaker William Hill on Monday following the eight-year ban on UEFA president Michel Platini.
Asian soccer chief Mohamed Bin Hammam narrowly fought off a vicious challenge to his seat on the FIFA executive board on Friday after one of the most vitriolic political battles the region's soccer world has known. The Qatari, who has held the seat unopposed since 1996, beat off the challenge of Bahrain's Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa by 23 votes to 21, with two spoiled papers, to put an end to the no-holds-barred fighting that has raged in the region.
FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has signed an amended version of an Amnesty International pledge to end human rights abuses and corruption in the sport should he win election to soccer's top job later this month.
The FIFA task force looking into dates for the Qatar World Cup has recommended a shorter tournament to be staged in November and December 2022, the head of the Asian Football Confederation told reporters on Tuesday.
Asian football said it was looking forward to working with new FIFA President Gianni Infantino, despite the region's two candidates losing out to the Swiss in Friday's election, and called for unity to help push the reform process forward.
Sepp Blatter said he will not support any of the five candidates standing to succeed him as FIFA president, through all but one of them had spoken to him about their bids.
Tokyo Sexwale withdrew from the FIFA presidential race minutes before the vote on Friday, announcing his decision at the very end of his candidate's speech.
All India Football Federation (AIFF) chief Praful Patel is hopeful of establishing fruitful relations with new FIFA president Gianni Infantino and work towards the development of the game in the country.
Gianni Infantino opened FIFA's new museum in his first official act as president of football's governing body on Sunday.
US sports television network ESPN has invited the five candidates in FIFA's presidential election to participate in a debate on the future of the crisis-hit governing body for world football.
The Arab region squandered the chance to help elect their first FIFA president because their two candidates failed to cooperate, leaving the door open for Swiss Gianni Infantino to triumph on Friday, Arab soccer chiefs and pundits said.
In a statement, Zurich-based FIFA said the candidates proposed are: Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Musa Hassan Bility, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino, Michel Platini, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Tokyo Sexwale.
Key developments and reaction when world football's governing body FIFA elected Gianni Infantino as new president and voted in a series of reforms at its congress on Friday
Factbox explaining how the voting system will work at the FIFA presidential election on Friday.
Prince Ali is one of five candidates standing to replace Sepp Blatter to try to lead FIFA out of its crisis.
FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne has protested to football's world governing body about the number of observers allowed into the hall for Friday's election, saying he believed they were working for his rivals.
Longtime FIFA president Sepp Blatter is disappointed the global soccer body's appeal committee upheld his ban from the sport, he told a Swiss newspaper in an interview published on Friday.
Bahraini footballer Hakeem Al Araibi, who fled Bahrain in 2014 and was later granted asylum in Australia, was arrested in Bangkok in November on an Interpol notice issued at Bahrain's request.
The Iraq Football Association (IFA) pledged their support for Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein in next month's FIFA presidential election.
Selected quotes from Swiss Gianni Infantino's first news conference after the former UEFA general secretary was elected president of scandal-hit world soccer's governing body FIFA on Friday:
Banned European soccer boss president Michel Platini has withdrawn his candidacy from the race for the presidency of soccer's scandal-plagued governing body FIFA, he told French sports daily L'Equipe on Thursday.
Banned UEFA president Michel Platini said he hoped to clear his name in time for the 2016 European Championship soccer tournament in June after attending a hearing on Monday to appeal against his suspension.
Gianni Infantino's bid for the FIFA presidency with the aim of leading the world football body out of the worst graft scandal in its history was boosted on Friday when the Swiss lawyer won "overwhelming" backing from Europe's football associations.
Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter and European soccer chief Michel Platini have lost their appeals against provisional 90-days bans by the global soccer body's ethics committee, FIFA said on Wednesday.
The victory celebration over, new FIFA president Gianni Infantino's first major decision in charge of the troubled world football organisation will be to appoint a secretary general, effectively a chief executive, to run day-to-day operations.
Nearly $1 million in funds from soccer's global governing body FIFA may have gone missing from Guatemala's soccer federation last year, according to sources and an internal audit seen by Reuters.
FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne said that as head of soccer's governing body he would seek to move the 2022 Qatar World Cup from November-December to late European spring - a step that would please European associations by averting disruption of their season.
Running highlights from FIFA's congress. World soccer's governing body has voted on a series of reforms and will elect a new president later on Friday (all times GMT): 13.30 The voting process is proving a long, drawn out affair. After an hour's voting, we have crawled to L for Latvia with little to get excited about apart from the brief appearance of Davor Suker, Golden Boot winner as the top scorer at the 1998 World Cup, as he cast Croatia's vote. Time then for a reminder that for a candidate to be elected in the first round, he must obtain at least 138 votes, two-thirds of the 207 votes cast. If this does not happen, a second round is held. This time, a simple majority -- 104 votes, which represents more than 50 percent of the votes -- is sufficient for a candidate to be elected. If no candidate gets that majority, the one with fewest votes will be eliminated and a new round will be held. This continues until one candidate obtains a majority. 12.45. Having begun his speech by promising to "die with my boots on", Sexwale ends it by withdrawing from the race, "I have got a surprise for you. My campaign ends today and I suspend my participation. With only four people it is your problem now." Markus Kattner, FIFA general secretary then reminds delegates of the voting procedure, reminding them not to photograph their ballot papers.
Emirati Ahmed Khalil got a modicum of revenge on Guangzhou Evergrande captain Zheng Zhi when he pipped the Chinese to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Player of the Year award on Sunday.
FIFA has approved five candidates for its February presidential election amid the worst crisis in its history, after barring Liberia's Musa Bility on integrity grounds and leaving out UEFA chief Michel Platini while he remains under suspension.
World soccer's governing body FIFA will proceed with an election to pick a new president on Friday to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter and vote on a set of reforms aimed at restoring its credibility after the worst graft scandal in its history.
A definitive guide to the movers and shakers who sit at the helm of the Asian sports boom.
Highlighting the divisions, the former French diplomat pointed out that the top European clubs spend millions on players while Papua New Guinea's football federation struggles to pay air fares for its team.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Crisis-hit world football governing body FIFA faces one of the most important days in its 112-year history when it elects a new leader on Friday hoping to usher in a fresh era after decades of tawdry controversy.
The race to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of Fifa is picking up steam and there is a scramble for nominations.
The committee also handed out a 90-day suspension to FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, who had already been put on leave by the football body, and banned former FIFA Vice-President Chung Mong-joon for six years and fined him 100,000 Swiss francs (67,021).
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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