Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa
The President of the Asian Football Confederation - and member of the Bahrain royal family - Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, is up next. Sheikh Salman is the only candidate to have generated noise outside the Congress walls today.
Both supporters and critics have gathered in small numbers outside the Hallenstadion in Zurich today to make their voices heard.
Sheikh Salman presents himself to delegates as “one of you” who has come to “speak from the heart” and not from a script. He says that reforms carried out in Asia since 2013 are proof that he can change FIFA too.
“When we give promises we must be realistic as well. We have to act responsibly,” he said, referring to FIFA’s current financial difficulties. “I am not ready to mortgage FIFA for election promises.”
Salman’s main message is that he will stand up for smaller associations against bullying larger ones.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.