Russia’s deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko is among five declared candidates for five European vacancies on the FIFA Council but must still pass an eligibility check ahead of next April’s election.
Mutko, who has sat at FIFA’s top table since 2009, has submitted an eligibility questionnaire but questions surround his candidacy following a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation into state-sponsored doping in Russia.
The 58-year-old was Russia’s sports minister until October and the ministry stands accused of directing a conspiracy that covered up hundreds of positive tests between 2011 and 2015.
Still president of the Russian FA, Mutko has denied any wrongdoing but the WADA report suggests he may have personally intervened to bury at least one positive test by an undisclosed Russian player.
Also standing for a four-year term on the FIFA Council are Hungary’s Sandor Csanyi, Costakis Koutsokoumnis of Cyprus, Montenegrin Dejan Savicevic and Iceland’s Geir Thorsteinsson.
Csanyi is the chairman of the Hungarian FA and a hugely successful banker, while the other three are presidents of their national associations, with Savicevic the best known of the bunch thanks to his illustrious playing career with Red Star Belgrade and Milan.
Assuming they pass their FIFA eligibility checks, all five could get a place on the council as there is currently one open seat for the UEFA and four current UEFA members are leaving.
Belgium’s Michel D’Hooghe, Senes Erzik of Turkey and Cypriot Marios Lefkaritis are all standing down after long stints at the top, and Germany’s Wolfgang Niersbach was banned from football for a year for his part in the 2006 World Cup bribery scandal.
The departure of D’Hooghe and Erzik, in particular, represents a real changing of the guard, as they have sat on the council, and its predecessor the ExCo, for 28 and 20 years respectively.
These changes mean there are actually four four-year terms up for grabs and the remainder of Nierbach’s term, which runs until 2019. There could, however, be more candidates for that seat as the deadline for entries is onJanuary 5.
The elections for these five European member seats will take place at UEFA’s 41st congress in Helsinki on April 5.
The FIFA Council currently has 33 members but will eventually consist of 37 members, comprised of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, eight vice-presidents, including FA vice-chairman David Gill, and 28 members from the six confederations.