FIFA Favorites Promise More Money and Travel in Final Pitches
- Infantino, Salman lead five-man field to replace Sepp Blatter
- Longshot Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein said "no more handouts"
FIFA Presidential candidate Gianni Infantino controls a football after his press conference at Wembley Stadium.
Photographer: Clive Rose/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The front-runners for FIFA president are promising bigger grants and more travel in their last-minute appeals to voters, a strategy reminiscent of disgraced president Joseph “Sepp” Blatter’s political playbook.
Sheikh Salman al Khalifa of Bahrain, who heads soccer in Asia, told voting delegates from the Americas that he’ll create task forces and councils, layers of governance which typically require all-expenses-paid travel to Zurich. European soccer leader Gianni Infantino has said, if elected, he would more than double development grants to each FIFA member to $5 million over the next four years.