Zurich, Switzerland
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Wednesday rejected a protest from FIFA presidential hopeful Prince Ali bin al Hussein, which aimed to force FIFA to use transparent voting booths at its congress election.
The Jordanian prince, one of five people vying to replace Sepp Blatter, said he went to the Lausanne-based court to guarantee FIFA members the freedom to vote for their preferred candidate.
He has said transparent voting booths would ensure that delegates do not take pictures of their ballots, a move required by certain regional confederations as proof of loyalty to a specific candidate, according to Prince Ali.
The prince asked CAS to invoke urgent provisional measures and force FIFA to use the transparent booths, which he purchased and flew to Zurich.
If FIFA could not be forced to use the booths, Prince Ali wanted CAS to suspend the vote.
"The request for provisional measures has been rejected," a CAS statement said. His call for a postponement "is now moot", it added.
"I regret that the system let us down," the Jordanian royal said in a statement.
"I advocated for transparent voting booths on behalf of (association) Presidents who want to vote their conscience, without worrying that someone with a different agenda is looking over their shoulder," he further said.
The prince said his exposure of the voting booth issue would lead to closer media scrutiny of the polling process and called for a ban on the use of mobile phones in booths to be respected.
Some of the glass booths purchased by the prince were displayed at Zurich's airport on Wednesday.
Indonesia, Kuwait likely ruled out of FIFA vote
ZURICH: Indonesia and Kuwait, both suspended from international football, should be barred from voting in FIFA's presidential election, the executive committee of world football's governing body said Wednesday.
The call made it highly unlikely that the two nations will cast ballots at Friday's congress to choose a new leader of global football, in what could be a blow to leading candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa.
Sheik Salman, a royal from Bahrain, heads the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which includes Indonesia and Kuwait.
The sheikh has been endorsed by the AFC's executive and was eyeing block support from the continent in the closely fought race against his main challenger Gianni Infantino, the UEFA general secretary.
"Regarding the currently suspended member associations of Indonesia and Kuwait, the executive committee recommended that the extraordinary congress decide on Friday that both these cases be dealt with at the next ordinary Congress in Mexico" in May, said a FIFA statement.
Any country can call at Friday's congress for further debate on either Indonesia or Kuwait, but it is unlikely that will lead to reinstatement, according to football sources.
"It is almost certain the congress will follow the recommendation (of the executive committee)," a FIFA spokesperson told AFP.
Assuming the two suspensions are not reversed, 207 FIFA members will cast ballots at the congress in Zurich.
Indonesia was suspended from international football in May after the government attempted to replace the country's football association.
Kuwait was banned in October because of alleged government interference in the Gulf state's sport.
The two votes could have played a crucial role in deciding the new president.
The two-thirds majority needed to secure a first-round victory in the presidential race seems improbable for any of the five candidates so at least two rounds of voting will be needed.
Only a simple majority is required to win from the second round.
Assuming the two suspensions are not reversed, 207 FIFA members will cast ballots at the congress in Zurich.
