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 With 54 voting nations, Africa's choice at a meeting in Kigali,
Rwanda will be crucial in the ballot of 209 member associations on
Feb. 26 in Zurich.
FIFA is voting for a new leader amidst its biggest ever corruption
scandal which has seen 41 people and entities indicted by the U.S.
Department of Justice.
Leading contenders Gianni Infantino, the Swiss general secretary of
European soccer's ruling body UEFA, and Asian Football Confederation
(AFC) president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, are both in
Kigali ahead of the CAF meeting.
CAF president Issa Hayatou, who is also FIFA's acting chief, told
French newspaper L'Equipe his confederation was originally behind
UEFA president Michel Platini before the Frenchman was banned from
soccer for eight years by FIFA's Ethics Committee.
"If Platini had been a candidate Africa would have voted for him
that is sure," said Cameroonian Hayatou, who raised the prospect of
Bahraini royal Salman being the preferred choice.
"If we decide to support Salman is it a crime? Who can prevent us
from doing this?" he said.
South African Tokyo Sexwale and Frenchman Jerome Champagne are also
expected to be in Rwanda but fellow FIFA presidential candidate
Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan will not be attending, his
spokesman told Reuters.
Last month UEFA's executive committee gave unanimous backing to
Infantino while Salman has the support of the AFC executive.
Although member associations do not have to follow their executive
committee's voting recommendations in the secret ballot to decide
the FIFA president, the two leading candidates are expected to have
the bulk of their own continent behind them - making the battle for
Africa even more crucial.
SEXWALE INFLUENCE
Infantino has won the backing of CONMEBOL, the 10 member
confederation for South America, and seven Central American FA's
have also publicly supported him but the Salman camp is confident
ahead of the African vote.
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South African businessman and politician Sexwale could have an
influence on CAF's decision as he will face pressure to withdraw
from the FIFA race before Friday's vote if it becomes clear he does
not have the support of his own confederation.
Sexwale, an apartheid-era political prisoner who was jailed
alongside Nelson Mandela, recognized that possibility when he said
in a radio interview last week that he would like to see FIFA's next
president be "an African or an Asian".
"Tokyo Sexwale represents South Africa which is a great ally of
CAF," said Hayatou.
"We can't be at odds with him but if he withdraws... we are not
against Sexwale but we are waiting for the decision of his own
federation who say his campaign has been too low-profile," he added.
A spokesman for Sexwale told Reuters that he had not yet made any
decision on whether to withdraw.
After the CAF meeting, the next key date for the candidates is Feb.
11 when they will give presentations to the CONCACAF confederation
for North and Central America and the Caribbean at a meeting in
Miami.
CONCACAF has 35 member associations with votes in the FIFA election.
UEFA president Platini was banned along with FIFA chief Blatter
after a FIFA Ethics Committee investigation of a 2011 payment of two
million Swiss francs ($2.01 million) made by the world governing
body to the former France captain.
(Reporting By Simon Evans; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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