FIFA Presidential candidates challenged to answer campaign group's survey

Campaign group #NewFIFANow has announced the launch of a survey for the five FIFA Presidential candidates ©New FIFA Now

Campaign group #NewFIFANow has announced it has launched a survey for the five FIFA Presidential candidates which asks them to nominate their top three priorities should they be elected as Sepp Blatter’s replacement in February.

Questions on the poll include who they would vote for to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, controversially awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively, should the bid process be hypothetically re-run and whether they would work to recover the money lost to corruption.

It also asks if they would publish total remuneration packages and pecuniary interests for the President and key FIFA executives in a bid to make the much-maligned organisation more transparent.

Damian Collins, a Member of Parliament in Britain who is one of the spearheads behind #NewFIFANow, also revealed that all five candidates will be invited to a meeting in Brussels on January 27, co-convened with the European Parliament, to present their candidacies and discuss findings from the survey.

Asian Football Confederation President Sheik Salman bin Al-Khalifa, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino, Jordanian FA chief Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Frenchman Jerome Champagne and South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale are the five men in the running to take over from Blatter.

Current UEFA President Michel Platini, who is currently serving a 90-day suspension along with Blatter, with both facing life bans from the game, hopes to have his name cleared in time to be considered but that appears unlikely.

“In the eleven months since #NewFIFANow was established, we have had the opportunity to speak with a wide range of people in the community about what their concerns are with FIFA,” Collins said.

#NewFIFANow co-founded Damian Collins (centre) believes the survey will help the public get to know the credentials of the five FIFA Presidential candidates — #NewFIFANow, co-founded by Damian Collins (centre), believes the survey will help the public get to know the credentials of the five FIFA Presidential candidates ©Getty Images

“Overwhelmingly, the people who pay their money to go to football matches, or who give up their time to make grassroots football work, are disgusted by the corruption within FIFA and world football, as well as the continuing mismanagement of the situation by FIFA.

“#NewFIFANow has said consistently that world football's governing body needs more democracy, more transparency and more accountability and this should apply to the FIFA Presidential election also.

“As an example, we know that the kafala system [used to monitor migrant workers] in Qatar is of significant concern to many stakeholders.

“We also ask the candidates whether they would pursue broader issues like this if they were President.

“The sponsors who contribute so much to world football, amateur and professional players, governments, volunteers and the community who pay their hard-earned money to play the game or go to matches, deserve to know who these men are and what they believe in.”

It is not yet known whether the five officials will choose to respond to the survey, the results of which will be published on the organisation’s website next month.

The new head of world football’s governing body will be elected at FIFA’s Extraordinary Congress on February 26 in Zurich next year, which will bring Blatter’s tumultuous 18-year spell in charge to an end.

A copy of the survey can be viewed here.