8 for FIFA presidency race

Official candidates for the FIFA presidency from top left: former Trinidad and Tobago's football player David Nakhid, UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino, AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, former FIFA deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne, Liberia FA chairman Musa Bility, FIFA vice president for Asia Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, Chairman of the FIFA monitoring committee for Israel and Palestine Tokyo Sexwale and UEFA President Michel Platini . PHOTO: AFP

Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, the 39-year-old brother of Jordan's King Abdullah who was the only adversary to Blatter at the previous election in May this year and can boast that he took the veteran Swiss to a second round of voting before withdrawing.

French former diplomat Jerome Champagne, 57, spent 11 years working for FIFA between 1999 and 2010. Unlike his previous bid in May, he has managed to get the necessary five signatures from national associations.

But he appears to lack the necessary clout, a problem also faced by David Nakhid, the former Trinidad and Tobago captain who once played for Swiss side Grasshoppers. In addition, Liberian FA chief Musa Bility confirmed to AFP on Monday that he had entered the race.

A heavyweight candidate to come forward is Tokyo Sexwale, the 62-year-old South African anti-apartheid campaigner who was once jailed alongside Nelson Mandela, serving 13 years of an 18-year sentence on Robben Island on terrorism charges.

Bahrain's Shaikh 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. 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 (S$2.77 million) payment received from FIFA in 2011 without a written contract, in an uncomfortable position.

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.