Who will vote for Blatter?
It’s widely expected that Blatter will sail off with his fifth presidential term today, despite the eruption this week of corruption allegations that have long haunted his time as Fifa’s chief.
So who will be voting for him?
North and Central America and Caribbean: 35 votes
Concacaf gained prominence within Fifa under the leadership of Trinidad and Tobago’s
Jack Warner, one of those
arrested this week. Most Concacaf members are expected to vote for Blatter today. But the US and Canada say they will vote for Prince Ali.
(An enlightening aside: at a Concacaf meeting in April,
Osiris Guzman, president of the Dominican football federation,
compared Blatter to
Moses, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Jesus and
Nelson Mandela. Ahem.)
Africa: 54 votes
The Confederation of African Football
issued a statement on Thursday opposing calls for the election to be delayed and reiterating its intention to vote for Blatter. It also offered “our full support to the measures initiated by Fifa in recent years in improving good governance”.
Asia: 46 votes
The Asian Football Confederation isn’t backing the candidate from its own region, but instead is opting for … Blatter.
It also repeated this week that it didn’t think the arrests were any reason to postpone the election or reconsider its favoured candidate.
However,
Frank Lowy, the chairman of Football Federation Australia (which jumped ship from the Oceania group in 2011), said he would vote for Prince Ali: “FFA believes that profound change within Fifa is needed.”
South America: 10 votes
South America – despite the presence of giants Brazil and Argentina – has fewer votes than any other confederation. It’s expected to hand them to Blatter.
Oceania: 11 votes
A statement from the group in January said all 11 nations planned to vote for Blatter. But on Friday,
New Zealand Football announced it would break ranks and support Prince Ali.
And (mostly) in the Prince Ali corner … Europe: 53 votes
Uefa president
Michel Platini said he estimates at least 45 of the European FAs will opt for Prince Ali.
Russia and Spain will go for Blatter.
Platini asked Blatter on Thursday to consider stepping aside, but the Fifa boss decided he didn’t fancy that.
David Gill, a board member of Uefa and and the English FA, has said he won’t take up his role as vice-president of Fifa if Blatter wins.