Day -835. WorldCup2018
Bring back the football. It's been more about the politics recently. Come March 24th the marathon qualifying campaign resumes in Asia, South America and North, Central America and the Caribbean. Africa and Oceania will follow in the spring. The Europeans will enjoy their own Championships this summer before starting their qualifiers in September.
No Fifa election now and no football until late March. I'll have to look for some other source of material for a few weeks.
Monday, 29 February 2016
Sunday, 28 February 2016
Malta, one more time.
Day -836. WorldCup2018.
I'm trying to keep up my Sunday tradition of a World Cup memory with a comical twist. This week I wanted it to have a Maltese theme, to wrap up my Maltese heavy week. So I thought after yesterday's non-victory victory against West Germany I would find a real World Cup win. But there have only been 2 and I have mentioned them in the past: the 1-0 in Estonia in 1993 and another 1-0 in Armenia in 2013.
Yes. That's it. Two wins, both in Eastern Europe. Therefore, I feel Malta's best chance of a win in the 2018 qualifying is against Lithuania, in Lithuania on October 11th 2016. That match comes 3 days after Malta play England, in England and Lithuania play in Scotland. Maybe they could just meet in Manchester. Get it over and done with and let the Maltese players get back home without the inconvenience of a trip to the Baltics after what will have been quite an exhausting (but hopefully not traumatic) experience at Wembley.
The Maltese supporters look forward to win number 3. The results are getting better, nightmare results of the past are a distant memory. Just don't ask about THAT 12-1 against Spain.......
I'm trying to keep up my Sunday tradition of a World Cup memory with a comical twist. This week I wanted it to have a Maltese theme, to wrap up my Maltese heavy week. So I thought after yesterday's non-victory victory against West Germany I would find a real World Cup win. But there have only been 2 and I have mentioned them in the past: the 1-0 in Estonia in 1993 and another 1-0 in Armenia in 2013.
Yes. That's it. Two wins, both in Eastern Europe. Therefore, I feel Malta's best chance of a win in the 2018 qualifying is against Lithuania, in Lithuania on October 11th 2016. That match comes 3 days after Malta play England, in England and Lithuania play in Scotland. Maybe they could just meet in Manchester. Get it over and done with and let the Maltese players get back home without the inconvenience of a trip to the Baltics after what will have been quite an exhausting (but hopefully not traumatic) experience at Wembley.
The Maltese supporters look forward to win number 3. The results are getting better, nightmare results of the past are a distant memory. Just don't ask about THAT 12-1 against Spain.......
Saturday, 27 February 2016
Malta: 1984!
Day -837. WorldCup2018.
I need a break from Fifa. So to follow up on my entry from yesterday below is video evidence of one of Malta's greatest "victories". Hey, two goals against West Germany in a defeat by one goal, in 1984 that was a victory.
I was there. The stadium was packed and I remember that first goal from the Maltese super-legend Carmel "il-Busu" Busutill perfectly. That turn at the edge of the penalty area and perfect shot into the far corner, the crowd going wild with disbelief. And that is no cliche. It was heaven. 1-0 up against West Germany! I also, unfortunately, equally remember the blooper by the Maltese goalkeeper, Ray Mifsud, that gifted the Germans an equaliser. I had an ongoing 20 year argument with a friend of mine about who the Maltese goalkeeper was that day, the regular, John Bonello, or the number 2, Mifsud. We haven't spoken about it in while but 31 and a half years later I can confirm it was Mifsud.
At 1-2 and about 5 minutes to go it was a great result. A third German goal made it a little disappointing but still it was a fun day to be at the stadium. Then, with a couple of minutes to go, Ray Xuereb scored again. Cue delirium in the stands once more (and there were people standing at every vantage point, in and outside the stadium). In the excitement, I don't remember much beyond the goal. But if you watch the video, look how Xuereb, or it could have been the other legend, Raymond "il-Mundu" Vella, grabbed the ball out of the net and ran back towards the centre circle as in to say to his team mates, "C'mon, let's get this going. We can get another one". But before he made it back to the centre he kicked the ball up to the heavens and far away. Quick change in his thinking, I guess: "2-3 is fantastic, don't let the Germans have the ball. We only have one and somebody from the stands might be on their way back to Valletta with it already".
Nowadays a loss is a loss and only when we actually score more goals than our opponents is it a win. And that's the way it should be. But, oh boy, were "victories" like this one in 1984 ever fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RLqkssy5Qg
I need a break from Fifa. So to follow up on my entry from yesterday below is video evidence of one of Malta's greatest "victories". Hey, two goals against West Germany in a defeat by one goal, in 1984 that was a victory.
I was there. The stadium was packed and I remember that first goal from the Maltese super-legend Carmel "il-Busu" Busutill perfectly. That turn at the edge of the penalty area and perfect shot into the far corner, the crowd going wild with disbelief. And that is no cliche. It was heaven. 1-0 up against West Germany! I also, unfortunately, equally remember the blooper by the Maltese goalkeeper, Ray Mifsud, that gifted the Germans an equaliser. I had an ongoing 20 year argument with a friend of mine about who the Maltese goalkeeper was that day, the regular, John Bonello, or the number 2, Mifsud. We haven't spoken about it in while but 31 and a half years later I can confirm it was Mifsud.
At 1-2 and about 5 minutes to go it was a great result. A third German goal made it a little disappointing but still it was a fun day to be at the stadium. Then, with a couple of minutes to go, Ray Xuereb scored again. Cue delirium in the stands once more (and there were people standing at every vantage point, in and outside the stadium). In the excitement, I don't remember much beyond the goal. But if you watch the video, look how Xuereb, or it could have been the other legend, Raymond "il-Mundu" Vella, grabbed the ball out of the net and ran back towards the centre circle as in to say to his team mates, "C'mon, let's get this going. We can get another one". But before he made it back to the centre he kicked the ball up to the heavens and far away. Quick change in his thinking, I guess: "2-3 is fantastic, don't let the Germans have the ball. We only have one and somebody from the stands might be on their way back to Valletta with it already".
Nowadays a loss is a loss and only when we actually score more goals than our opponents is it a win. And that's the way it should be. But, oh boy, were "victories" like this one in 1984 ever fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RLqkssy5Qg
Friday, 26 February 2016
And at the end of the day....
Day -838. WorldCup2018.
Phew. It's over. Today was exhilaratingly exhausting, keeping up with Fifa election news in between attempting to get a normal day's work done. It's also been a few days of scouring news reports in an attempt to get a quasi accurate estimation of how the voting would go. And after the news that the new president wasn't Sheik Salman sunk in, the relief turned to a bit of a so-what-happens-now anti-climax. Apart from the jokes about Gianni Infantino not only being Swiss like Sepp Blatter but from the neighbouring town, there is a feeling amongst those in the know that Infantino knew how to win an election by giving the electorate what they wanted, more money, which is what the old Fifa did. Infantino has promised each national association $5m over 5 years. And this when the Fifa accounts to be presented at the next Fifa Congress in May will show a loss despite Fifa's massive revenues from sponsors and television. At today's Congress the acting secretary general, Markus Kattner, revealed that the Fifa crisis over the last year has cost Fifa $550m. But right now we have to wait and see what the presidency of Infantino will bring. More importantly, it will be interesting and important to see the effects of the reforms package that was approved today. More of that to come over the next few weeks and months.
But this is not what I planned entry number -838 to be about. After my attempts in the last week or so to find out if there was a story behind the Maltese FA and Prince Ali friendship, and the expectations of today had subsided and conversations had been had, I came to a couple of realisations. Despite my probing I do believe that the relationship between the MFA president, Norman Darmanin Demajo and Prince Ali is a friendship of respect. The MFA backed Prince Ali in last year's election and saw no reason to not be loyal to that support this time around. That friendly match in Turkey will always remain as an odd event in my head but maybe it was just that: an odd gesture of appreciation from Prince Ali. The MFA, and Maltese football went through some testing times under it's previous administration, including the alleged "bribe" paid to the former president by the 2006 German World Cup bid team. The public war between the current and former president tarnished Maltese football. With Daramanin Demajo there is more talk of what's happening on the pitches around Malta than suspicions of where development money from UEFA is ending up.
The other thought I had today is that I probably should explain or justify my continuous reference to Maltese football. It's a small island with, to be honest, a league of not hugely competitive or high entertainment value. The national team is beginning to move on from celebrating a 1-0 defeat as a victory, but it is still an achievement to get more than a couple of points in a World Cup or Euros qualifying campaign. So why do I do keep coming back to it? I feel like one of those English football supporters, the kind you read about in a magazine like "When Saturday Comes", who supports their local, non-league team. Your friends go off and support the Manchester United and Juventus' of the world but you remain loyal to the team you inherited as a supporter from your father, who took you to the rickety old stadium and you were in awe of these football players who you would then see picking up their newspaper in the local newsagent's like anybody else. It's like watching amateur sport where players are playing simply to win and for nothing else. And you know the players, you played football with them at lunchtime at school, you played tennis with them when they were younger (true story, 3 I can think of) and you drank beers with them.
Is this a romantic view that doesn't exist anymore, even in Malta? With more overseas players playing there now who need a financial incentive and with clubs being more professionally run, maybe it is. But it is still local. While the joke, or reality, is that Manchester United have more supporters in London than Manchester in Malta every football fan has team in Italy or England that many are fanatical about. And, yes, I have a team in England that I follow quite religiously and who are causing me no little amount of heartache this season but in my years before leaving Malta I quite happily reminded my friends that if Sliema Wanderers of Sliema, Malta were playing in a league deciding final match of the season on the same day as the biggest match of the season in England I would be at the Ta' Qali stadium in Malta quietly enjoying the much lower quality football.
And the same goes for the national team. On a midweek evening in April 1985 I was at Ta' Qali stadium to watch Malta beat Jordan 3-1 in a rather meaningless friendly. But it was exciting, it was a win. Myself and the other two or three hundred spectators didn't differentiate between a friendly or a competitive match: it was a win and we don't get many of those.
Yes, now it's changed. There were days when the stadium was full for an end of season match, in the days before the official capacity was known, or if was it wasn't monitored. With the saturation of live football on television there is even more reason for the locals to stay home. "Ha!", they say, "who wants to watch that rubbish at Ta' Qali when I can sit at home and watch United-Liverpool". Me, I would love to go on that 30-35 minute walk from our house to the stadium, sit in the near empty stands, listen to the players shouting at each other and hear the coach barking instructions from the other side of the pitch and be entertained by the supporters occasionally breaking into song, a song either borrowed from what they hear on Italian or English TV or an old fashioned village marching band special.
It's entertainment of a different value. And that's why I will look forward to the World Cup in 2018 to see football at it's best but I will always be like Jim, from Essex, in a story in "When Saturday Comes" supporting Grays Athletic on a cold February evening and loving every minute of it.
(On a maybe contradictory ending note, but at the same time unsurprising aside to the above entry given the reasons for me keeping this up for 1000 days, I would hardly be opposed to being in Russia in 838 days, not because I have a burning ambition to visit Russia per se, but it is the World Cup. I'm sure Jim from Essex wouldn't mind either).
Phew. It's over. Today was exhilaratingly exhausting, keeping up with Fifa election news in between attempting to get a normal day's work done. It's also been a few days of scouring news reports in an attempt to get a quasi accurate estimation of how the voting would go. And after the news that the new president wasn't Sheik Salman sunk in, the relief turned to a bit of a so-what-happens-now anti-climax. Apart from the jokes about Gianni Infantino not only being Swiss like Sepp Blatter but from the neighbouring town, there is a feeling amongst those in the know that Infantino knew how to win an election by giving the electorate what they wanted, more money, which is what the old Fifa did. Infantino has promised each national association $5m over 5 years. And this when the Fifa accounts to be presented at the next Fifa Congress in May will show a loss despite Fifa's massive revenues from sponsors and television. At today's Congress the acting secretary general, Markus Kattner, revealed that the Fifa crisis over the last year has cost Fifa $550m. But right now we have to wait and see what the presidency of Infantino will bring. More importantly, it will be interesting and important to see the effects of the reforms package that was approved today. More of that to come over the next few weeks and months.
But this is not what I planned entry number -838 to be about. After my attempts in the last week or so to find out if there was a story behind the Maltese FA and Prince Ali friendship, and the expectations of today had subsided and conversations had been had, I came to a couple of realisations. Despite my probing I do believe that the relationship between the MFA president, Norman Darmanin Demajo and Prince Ali is a friendship of respect. The MFA backed Prince Ali in last year's election and saw no reason to not be loyal to that support this time around. That friendly match in Turkey will always remain as an odd event in my head but maybe it was just that: an odd gesture of appreciation from Prince Ali. The MFA, and Maltese football went through some testing times under it's previous administration, including the alleged "bribe" paid to the former president by the 2006 German World Cup bid team. The public war between the current and former president tarnished Maltese football. With Daramanin Demajo there is more talk of what's happening on the pitches around Malta than suspicions of where development money from UEFA is ending up.
The other thought I had today is that I probably should explain or justify my continuous reference to Maltese football. It's a small island with, to be honest, a league of not hugely competitive or high entertainment value. The national team is beginning to move on from celebrating a 1-0 defeat as a victory, but it is still an achievement to get more than a couple of points in a World Cup or Euros qualifying campaign. So why do I do keep coming back to it? I feel like one of those English football supporters, the kind you read about in a magazine like "When Saturday Comes", who supports their local, non-league team. Your friends go off and support the Manchester United and Juventus' of the world but you remain loyal to the team you inherited as a supporter from your father, who took you to the rickety old stadium and you were in awe of these football players who you would then see picking up their newspaper in the local newsagent's like anybody else. It's like watching amateur sport where players are playing simply to win and for nothing else. And you know the players, you played football with them at lunchtime at school, you played tennis with them when they were younger (true story, 3 I can think of) and you drank beers with them.
Is this a romantic view that doesn't exist anymore, even in Malta? With more overseas players playing there now who need a financial incentive and with clubs being more professionally run, maybe it is. But it is still local. While the joke, or reality, is that Manchester United have more supporters in London than Manchester in Malta every football fan has team in Italy or England that many are fanatical about. And, yes, I have a team in England that I follow quite religiously and who are causing me no little amount of heartache this season but in my years before leaving Malta I quite happily reminded my friends that if Sliema Wanderers of Sliema, Malta were playing in a league deciding final match of the season on the same day as the biggest match of the season in England I would be at the Ta' Qali stadium in Malta quietly enjoying the much lower quality football.
And the same goes for the national team. On a midweek evening in April 1985 I was at Ta' Qali stadium to watch Malta beat Jordan 3-1 in a rather meaningless friendly. But it was exciting, it was a win. Myself and the other two or three hundred spectators didn't differentiate between a friendly or a competitive match: it was a win and we don't get many of those.
Yes, now it's changed. There were days when the stadium was full for an end of season match, in the days before the official capacity was known, or if was it wasn't monitored. With the saturation of live football on television there is even more reason for the locals to stay home. "Ha!", they say, "who wants to watch that rubbish at Ta' Qali when I can sit at home and watch United-Liverpool". Me, I would love to go on that 30-35 minute walk from our house to the stadium, sit in the near empty stands, listen to the players shouting at each other and hear the coach barking instructions from the other side of the pitch and be entertained by the supporters occasionally breaking into song, a song either borrowed from what they hear on Italian or English TV or an old fashioned village marching band special.
It's entertainment of a different value. And that's why I will look forward to the World Cup in 2018 to see football at it's best but I will always be like Jim, from Essex, in a story in "When Saturday Comes" supporting Grays Athletic on a cold February evening and loving every minute of it.
(On a maybe contradictory ending note, but at the same time unsurprising aside to the above entry given the reasons for me keeping this up for 1000 days, I would hardly be opposed to being in Russia in 838 days, not because I have a burning ambition to visit Russia per se, but it is the World Cup. I'm sure Jim from Essex wouldn't mind either).
Thursday, 25 February 2016
'Twas the night before the Congress.....
Day -839. WorldCup2018
I'd like to think that it was due to my question to Canada Soccer that the President, Victor Montagliani, announced this evening that the Canada Soccer will be voting for Gianni Infantino in tomorrow's Fifa election. Of course it was. It is more likely that they gave up on waiting for an official endorsement of a candidate from CONCACAF. The CONCACAF executive was due to meet in Zurich on Thursday evening to discuss endorsing a candidate. With no news forthcoming, and with some countries in the region already annoucing their intentions, it looks like all the CONCACAF countries are free to vote independently. This is where this election could be won or lost, unless Africa does split into a large voting bloc for Infantino as he maintains is going to happen.
More realistically than Canada Soccer being influenced by my question, yet with the same lack of hope, is my wish that the Maltese FA are bluffing and are not really voting for Prince Ali. I fear a wasted vote. The huge majority of UEFA associations are voting for Infantino (43 out of 53 confirmed by my count) and Malta, out of loyalty, close friendship or some other questionable reason say they are sticking with Prince Ali. This election is going to be very close and if the controversial Sheikh Salman wins by one vote I may have to renounce my Maltese citizenship. Seeing as I don't hold citizenship of any other country then I will probably have to prepare myself to be one of those people living in limbo in an airport for a while, eating airport food, sleeping on airport chairs and befriending the night cleaning crews. All because the MFA couldnt get over themselves, stick with their European family and put an X by Gianni Infantino's name.
I have not missed that this evening the U.S Soccer Federation also announced that they will be voting for Prince Ali. Their reasons may be similar to those of the MFA. However, I have full faith in the Americans voting for Infantino in the expected second round when Prince Ali is eliminated. It would be inconceivable that they could vote for the Sheikh with his questionable background as part of the ruling family of a country with a questionable understanding of democracy and human rights. Malta? I'm not so sure what they might do in the second round. Prince Ali and Sheikh Salman are rivals within the Asian confederation but if the MFA go against the common UEFA vote in the first round why would they become European in the second round?
If the majority of Africa stick with the Sheikh, then apart from the CONCACAF factor, the Prince Ali factor will be huge in the second round. It is unlikely that there will be a two-thirds majority in the first round, so where will all Prince Ali's votes go? Even if CONCACAF all go with Infantino with Sheikh Salman's backing in Asia and Africa it may come down to that one MFA vote. No pressure there, Mr. MFA President. Oceania may save you anyway.
(As a note of interest all of the above may be a moot point if the delegates at tomorrow's Fifa Congress don't approve the proposed reforms to be presented before the election. New president with no change? They might as well bring Blatter back. As much as I go on about the election it is the package of reforms that needs to be implemented more than a new face).
I'd like to think that it was due to my question to Canada Soccer that the President, Victor Montagliani, announced this evening that the Canada Soccer will be voting for Gianni Infantino in tomorrow's Fifa election. Of course it was. It is more likely that they gave up on waiting for an official endorsement of a candidate from CONCACAF. The CONCACAF executive was due to meet in Zurich on Thursday evening to discuss endorsing a candidate. With no news forthcoming, and with some countries in the region already annoucing their intentions, it looks like all the CONCACAF countries are free to vote independently. This is where this election could be won or lost, unless Africa does split into a large voting bloc for Infantino as he maintains is going to happen.
More realistically than Canada Soccer being influenced by my question, yet with the same lack of hope, is my wish that the Maltese FA are bluffing and are not really voting for Prince Ali. I fear a wasted vote. The huge majority of UEFA associations are voting for Infantino (43 out of 53 confirmed by my count) and Malta, out of loyalty, close friendship or some other questionable reason say they are sticking with Prince Ali. This election is going to be very close and if the controversial Sheikh Salman wins by one vote I may have to renounce my Maltese citizenship. Seeing as I don't hold citizenship of any other country then I will probably have to prepare myself to be one of those people living in limbo in an airport for a while, eating airport food, sleeping on airport chairs and befriending the night cleaning crews. All because the MFA couldnt get over themselves, stick with their European family and put an X by Gianni Infantino's name.
I have not missed that this evening the U.S Soccer Federation also announced that they will be voting for Prince Ali. Their reasons may be similar to those of the MFA. However, I have full faith in the Americans voting for Infantino in the expected second round when Prince Ali is eliminated. It would be inconceivable that they could vote for the Sheikh with his questionable background as part of the ruling family of a country with a questionable understanding of democracy and human rights. Malta? I'm not so sure what they might do in the second round. Prince Ali and Sheikh Salman are rivals within the Asian confederation but if the MFA go against the common UEFA vote in the first round why would they become European in the second round?
If the majority of Africa stick with the Sheikh, then apart from the CONCACAF factor, the Prince Ali factor will be huge in the second round. It is unlikely that there will be a two-thirds majority in the first round, so where will all Prince Ali's votes go? Even if CONCACAF all go with Infantino with Sheikh Salman's backing in Asia and Africa it may come down to that one MFA vote. No pressure there, Mr. MFA President. Oceania may save you anyway.
(As a note of interest all of the above may be a moot point if the delegates at tomorrow's Fifa Congress don't approve the proposed reforms to be presented before the election. New president with no change? They might as well bring Blatter back. As much as I go on about the election it is the package of reforms that needs to be implemented more than a new face).
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Party at the Hallenstadion!
Day -840. WorldCup2018
This is going to be one incredible weekend at the Hallenstadion, the multi-purpose arena in Zurich. On Friday, football officials will pack the venue for Fifa's Extraordinary Congress culminating in the election of a new president. It could be a long day, but even though the vote itself is a slow process and it may require a second round it will not be able to go into sudden death overtime, play until there's a winner, like National Hockey League hockey in North America. If it's not over by midnight the building maintenance crew will be kicking them out as they have to lay an ice hockey surface for the ZSC Lions home match the next day.
It might be a good idea to look out for a number of suits in the crowd on Saturday. Some of the Fifa officials from the non-winter sports countries (most of them?) might have snagged some tickets for a bit of enjoyment of the local culture. However, they may stand out a little bit in this crowd. Or maybe not. It's more football than NHL hockey crowd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9sV7z-M_Q0&list=PL60CFjRsDwVvcemOcnUu-spMtZOSKopfw&index=12
If the politicians (and you know I mean football officials) want to stick around for the full weekend to let off some steam after a full Friday listening to talk of reform and the such, they could get on to Ticketmaster, or the local Fifa fixer, and get themselves some tickets for Ellie Goulding, performing at the Hallenstadion on Sunday. And if they really want to celebrate not being arrested on behalf of the U.S. Attorney General in their hotel room at dawn on Friday (there are rumours that this shouldn't come as a surprise), they could stay in Zurich for to mark the the leap year day by dancing along to the German techno/trance band Scooter. This is part of their "Can't Stop the Hardcore" tour which in ways that I can't fully put my finger on seems appropriate for the Fifa crowd. No matter what happens in Friday's election, the hard core at Fifa, despite all the promises, will probably not be shaken to the foundations of it's marble walled, deep underground, basement bunker.
This is going to be one incredible weekend at the Hallenstadion, the multi-purpose arena in Zurich. On Friday, football officials will pack the venue for Fifa's Extraordinary Congress culminating in the election of a new president. It could be a long day, but even though the vote itself is a slow process and it may require a second round it will not be able to go into sudden death overtime, play until there's a winner, like National Hockey League hockey in North America. If it's not over by midnight the building maintenance crew will be kicking them out as they have to lay an ice hockey surface for the ZSC Lions home match the next day.
It might be a good idea to look out for a number of suits in the crowd on Saturday. Some of the Fifa officials from the non-winter sports countries (most of them?) might have snagged some tickets for a bit of enjoyment of the local culture. However, they may stand out a little bit in this crowd. Or maybe not. It's more football than NHL hockey crowd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9sV7z-M_Q0&list=PL60CFjRsDwVvcemOcnUu-spMtZOSKopfw&index=12
If the politicians (and you know I mean football officials) want to stick around for the full weekend to let off some steam after a full Friday listening to talk of reform and the such, they could get on to Ticketmaster, or the local Fifa fixer, and get themselves some tickets for Ellie Goulding, performing at the Hallenstadion on Sunday. And if they really want to celebrate not being arrested on behalf of the U.S. Attorney General in their hotel room at dawn on Friday (there are rumours that this shouldn't come as a surprise), they could stay in Zurich for to mark the the leap year day by dancing along to the German techno/trance band Scooter. This is part of their "Can't Stop the Hardcore" tour which in ways that I can't fully put my finger on seems appropriate for the Fifa crowd. No matter what happens in Friday's election, the hard core at Fifa, despite all the promises, will probably not be shaken to the foundations of it's marble walled, deep underground, basement bunker.
Tuesday, 23 February 2016
Almost there: election countdown
Day -841. WorldCup2018.
This build up to the Fifa election is tiring business. Trying to keep track of who might be voting for who and predicting the scenarios is pretty exhausting. And it really does feel like a political election. No, I'm not surprised but the similarities are striking.
Gianni Infantino was in South Africa yesterday and when he announced that he believes that more than half of the Africans associations are going to vote for him, Tokyo Sexwale was sitting next to him. Sexwale has given up on his chances of winning many, if any, votes on Friday. His own country won't vote for him. So now he's popping up next to the favourite and is talking alliances. Sexwale invited all the candidates to South Africa but the other three were too busy. So Sexwale had Infantino's full attention and talked about the reality of necessary deals with his opponents. Is Sexwale offering to sway some voters if it goes to a second round in return for a good position within Fifa?
Then we have Infantino and Sheoikh Salman talking about how much they respect each other. The Sheikh said something on the lines of Infantino being a great guy who I like but some of his ideas don't make financial sense. And the Sheikh is talking about deficits, the magic word that every politician uses in the run up to an election, without most of the electorate knowing what it means. We hope that the 209 presidents of their national associations understand deficits, but nonetheless it still has the feeling of a scare tactic by the Sheikh.
And to top it all off, to give the whole thing the feeling of an election in a country of questionable democracy we have the candidate acting the part of the sore loser before he's actually lost. Prince Ali was once upon a time the favourite to win. It didn't last long. It was soon after the election last May where he was Sepp Blatter's only opponent. Four days later, when Blatter stepped down, Prince Ali became the favourite because there was no one else. Then Michel Platini stepped in because he couldn't stand what Blatter had done to football's image. And then Platini was suspended over the "disloyal payment" and Prince Ali became the favourite again. But Sheik Salman doesn't like the Prince so he became a candidate to stop the Prince winning. And as president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman had the backing of the Asians and now he was the favourite. Then UEFA needed an alternate candidate to replace Platini. In steps Infantino and eventually he takes away all Prince Ali's European votes. And now the Prince is annoyed. He knows the games is up. So first he complains that the Africans and Asians have colluded (they did sign a development agreement) and have engineered a bloc vote in favour of the Sheikh. Today he took his complaint to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) because Fifa vetoed his request to have transparent voting boxes. And the good Prince even offered to supply all the boxes. He has asked CAS to suspend the vote until they make a decision. Donald Trump? What? He can't really compete with this lot for entertainment.
So roll on Friday. Plan your day, but plan to not know what time the election will take place at. It's part of the Fifa Extraordinary Congress. Delegates will start arriving at 9am (Zurich time) and the election is item number 11, of 12, on the agenda. It is forecast that voting will start at 2pm, but it is an old fashioned vote where all of the 209 (or 207) delegates have to pop their vote in a box, which may or may not be Prince Ali's transparent boxes. None of that press-a-button in your seat style election for Fifa. And if the magic number (139, or 138 if 207 voters are voting (see yesterday)) is not attained by any candidate they will do it all again in a second round, but not without a break for some vital, "who do we vote for now" questions amongst the Prince Ali supporters. Happily, the Sheikh and Infantino will have some kind members of their "team" assist the undecided in making a decision. And by the late afternoon we may have a new president. Unlike the white smoke from the chimney announcing the new Pope, the new president will be announced on stage by the most senior Fifa official, which may mean they might have to go quite far down the organisation list to find someone without the word "fired" by his name. It's going to be quite the day.
This build up to the Fifa election is tiring business. Trying to keep track of who might be voting for who and predicting the scenarios is pretty exhausting. And it really does feel like a political election. No, I'm not surprised but the similarities are striking.
Gianni Infantino was in South Africa yesterday and when he announced that he believes that more than half of the Africans associations are going to vote for him, Tokyo Sexwale was sitting next to him. Sexwale has given up on his chances of winning many, if any, votes on Friday. His own country won't vote for him. So now he's popping up next to the favourite and is talking alliances. Sexwale invited all the candidates to South Africa but the other three were too busy. So Sexwale had Infantino's full attention and talked about the reality of necessary deals with his opponents. Is Sexwale offering to sway some voters if it goes to a second round in return for a good position within Fifa?
Then we have Infantino and Sheoikh Salman talking about how much they respect each other. The Sheikh said something on the lines of Infantino being a great guy who I like but some of his ideas don't make financial sense. And the Sheikh is talking about deficits, the magic word that every politician uses in the run up to an election, without most of the electorate knowing what it means. We hope that the 209 presidents of their national associations understand deficits, but nonetheless it still has the feeling of a scare tactic by the Sheikh.
And to top it all off, to give the whole thing the feeling of an election in a country of questionable democracy we have the candidate acting the part of the sore loser before he's actually lost. Prince Ali was once upon a time the favourite to win. It didn't last long. It was soon after the election last May where he was Sepp Blatter's only opponent. Four days later, when Blatter stepped down, Prince Ali became the favourite because there was no one else. Then Michel Platini stepped in because he couldn't stand what Blatter had done to football's image. And then Platini was suspended over the "disloyal payment" and Prince Ali became the favourite again. But Sheik Salman doesn't like the Prince so he became a candidate to stop the Prince winning. And as president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman had the backing of the Asians and now he was the favourite. Then UEFA needed an alternate candidate to replace Platini. In steps Infantino and eventually he takes away all Prince Ali's European votes. And now the Prince is annoyed. He knows the games is up. So first he complains that the Africans and Asians have colluded (they did sign a development agreement) and have engineered a bloc vote in favour of the Sheikh. Today he took his complaint to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) because Fifa vetoed his request to have transparent voting boxes. And the good Prince even offered to supply all the boxes. He has asked CAS to suspend the vote until they make a decision. Donald Trump? What? He can't really compete with this lot for entertainment.
So roll on Friday. Plan your day, but plan to not know what time the election will take place at. It's part of the Fifa Extraordinary Congress. Delegates will start arriving at 9am (Zurich time) and the election is item number 11, of 12, on the agenda. It is forecast that voting will start at 2pm, but it is an old fashioned vote where all of the 209 (or 207) delegates have to pop their vote in a box, which may or may not be Prince Ali's transparent boxes. None of that press-a-button in your seat style election for Fifa. And if the magic number (139, or 138 if 207 voters are voting (see yesterday)) is not attained by any candidate they will do it all again in a second round, but not without a break for some vital, "who do we vote for now" questions amongst the Prince Ali supporters. Happily, the Sheikh and Infantino will have some kind members of their "team" assist the undecided in making a decision. And by the late afternoon we may have a new president. Unlike the white smoke from the chimney announcing the new Pope, the new president will be announced on stage by the most senior Fifa official, which may mean they might have to go quite far down the organisation list to find someone without the word "fired" by his name. It's going to be quite the day.
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