FIFA approves major reforms

ZURICH — South African Tokyo Sexwale pulled out of the race to become the next president of FIFA Friday, announcing in mid-speech that he was suspending his campaign with immediate effect. Sexwale had been seen as the outsider in the five-man 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,” he said, speaking after the other four candidates. Sexwale had not been backed by his own African confederation, with CAF making public in January its support of Asian confederation president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa. The other three candidates left in the fray are Gianni Infantino, Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein and Jerome Champagne. FIFA members Friday approved major reforms aiming to end corruption scandals ahead of voting for a new president who faces a mountainous task boosting the image of football’s governing body. The measures were adopted by 179 members, while 22 voted against and six abstained at a congress seeking to turn the page on Sepp Blatter’s tainted rule. The result is uncertain but football leaders were given an immediate warning that the vote and new reforms must convince the world after several years of mounting scandal with corruption and doubts about World Cup bidding. “This congress will quite certainly mark a watershed moment in the history of FIFA,” acting president Issa Hayatou said in his opening speech. The reform package was designed to limit the authority of FIFA’s top brass in a bid to prevent a repeat of patronage and waste that prevailed during Blatter’s 18-year term. The measures have been developed since June by a committee led by Francois Carrard, a Swiss lawyer tasked with a similar cleanup effort at the International Olympic Committee more than a decade ago. The president’s job has been altered to function like a corporate chairman of the board, providing strategic guidance but with less management authority. FIFA’s executive committee, which had become an epicenter of graft, has been re-branded as a FIFA council. It will operate similar to a corporate board of directions. FIFA’s secretary general, previously number two to the president, will serve as world football’s CEO. Measures to improve financial transparency at the multi-billion dollar organization were also included. FIFA faces $108 million deficit for 2015 FIFA is facing a shortfall of $108 million for the last financial year as a result of its “falling credibility,” a member of its audit and compliance committee said Thursday. FIFA is in the throes of a corruption scandal that has engulfed top officials and last year saw several dozen international officials indicted in the US for racketeering, money-laundering and bribery. In July, former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said that it was difficult to renew sponsorship deals and that no major deals would be announced until the election of a new president.— Agencies