Fifa has announced the names of the seven candidates to replace Sepp Blatter as its president – with that of David Nakhid not among them.
Nakhid, a former Trinidad and Tobago international, had stated his intention to stand but was absent from the list released by the governing body. Although he had the five required nominations, one of his backers broke election rules by also supporting another candidate.
“In view of this, the [election] committee decided not to consider Mr Nakhid’s application as it did not fulfil the required five declarations of support,” Fifa said in a statement.
His absence means the list now contains just one former player in Michel Platini, who is currently banned from football.
The seven men who will now go forward to the 26 February election are Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, the Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino, Liberia’s FA president Musa Bility, the Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, the former diplomat Jérôme Champagne, the South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale, the Uefa president Platini.
The latter’s participation in the election depends on the status of the ban he is serving. Platini – the one-time favourite for the job – was suspended from football for 90 days pending a disciplinary hearing into a £1.3m payment signed off by the outgoing president Sepp Blatter in 2011.
If his ban is lifted, Fifa said in a statement that Platini’s candidacy would be put in the hands of its Ad-hoc Electoral Committee which would “decide, depending on the respective exact point in time, on how to proceed with the candidature concerned”.