Soccer

Fifa presidential candidate removed from running after integrity checks

Musa Bility, head of the Liberian football association, will not be allowed to stand

Liberia FA chairman Musa Bility speaks on his mobile phone after annoucing plans to stand for the presidency of Fifa. Photo: Zoom Dosso/Getty Images
Liberia FA chairman Musa Bility speaks on his mobile phone after annoucing plans to stand for the presidency of Fifa. Photo: Zoom Dosso/Getty Images
Thu Nov 12 2015 - 09:29

One of the seven candidates for the FIFA presidency has been excluded from the election after failing integrity checks.

FIFA’s electoral committee has announced that Liberian football association chief Musa Bility has not passed the check and is not eligible to stand, but is not making the reasons for his exclusion public.

Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has passed the checks despite claims from human rights groups he was involved in a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in his home country Bahrain.

The other candidates cleared are Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, former FIFA official Jerome Champagne from France, UEFA’s general secretary Gianni Infantino from Switzerland, and Tokyo Sexwale, the former anti-apartheid activist from South Africa.

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The electoral committee will not carry out integrity checks on Michel Platini, the UEFA president who is currently suspended for 90 days pending an ethics committee hearing into a €1.3million payment he received from FIFA in 2011, until the disciplinary process is complete.

The election of the successor to Sepp Blatter, who is also under a 90-day suspension, takes place on February 26th.

FIFA said in a statement: “The integrity check included a review of corporate records, litigation cases, bankruptcy proceedings, potential regulatory actions taken against the candidate and a review of media reports concerning potential red flags (fraudulent behaviour, match manipulation, human rights violations, etc.).

“Each candidate was then asked to comment on the content of the detailed report produced.

“The ad-hoc electoral committee did not admit the candidature of Musa Hassan Bility, in view of the content of the integrity check report relating to him. For reasons of protection of personality rights, the committee — while it has explained its considerations in detail to Musa Hassan Bility — will not comment publicly on the specifics of its decision.”

The decision can be appealed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.