FIFA confirms 26 February as date for presidential election

Fifa is to stick to its presidential election date of 26 February as uncertainty surrounds Michel Platini’s candidacy.
The governing body held its first executive committee meeting since the Fifa president Sepp Blatter was provisionally suspended two weeks ago.
Blatter had already announced plans to resign before being banned for 90 days amid a Fifa ethics investigation over a 2011 payment to Platini, the Uefa president, who was also suspended.
Fifa’s ethics committee has been prevented from speaking publicly on the details of the case. But Fifa said its ruling body has agreed to “more transparency for ethics proceedings”.

The meeting confirmed that Fifa will go ahead with the election in February after an update from the election monitor Domenico Scala, whose committee rules on the eligibility of candidates.

Platini submitted his candidacy before the 26 October deadline but he could be declared ineligible as he is being investigated over the payment of £1.35m from Fifa for work he says was carried out at least nine years earlier.
Platini has challenged his suspension and is awaiting the verdict of the Fifa appeals committee. Uefa is pushing for a swift decision.
The European governing body, which continues to pay Platini and has not suspended its president, has spent the buildup to the Fifa meeting discussing election strategy, including whether to back another candidate in the race if the former France captain cannot run.
Aside from Platini, the former Fifa vice-president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan and the former Trinidad and Tobago player David Nakhid have said they have submitted their five required federation nominations.
The Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa has also written to his executive committee saying he has “recently been urged by a growing number of senior” people within the game to stand. The Bahraini was seeking advice from his AFC colleagues before making a decision.

The Guardian