South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale to run for Fifa Presidency

October 24, 2015

South African businessman and former political prisoner Tokyo Sexwale is to run for the presidency of world football's governing body Fifa, a spokesman said on Saturday.

Sexwale, who confirmed his candidacy two days before the deadline for registrations, is the third African candidate to declare his bid to replace the outgoing Sepp Blatter. Former Nigeria international Segun Odegbami has also declared an interest, as has Musa Bility, the head of Liberia's Football Association. "He is South Africa's candidate and we hope he will be all of Africa's candidate," spokesman Peter Paul Ngwenya told the Reuters news agency. The South African Football Association (Safa) said it fully supported Sexwale's bid. Four other candidates say they have submitted nominations for the election which will take place on 26 February 2016. Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder David Nakhid, ex-Fifa official Jerome Champagne and Michel Platini, president of European Football's ruling body UEFA, also say they have submitted their papers. Platini is currently suspended, along with Sepp Blatter, pending a Fifa ethics investigation. Their suspensions earlier this month were the latest twists in Fifa's worst crisis in its 111-year history. Swiss authorities are also investigating the decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively while the U.S. Department of Justice has indicted 14 soccer officials and sports marketing executives on a series of corruption charges. *BBC