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FIFA presidential election: A look at the candidates

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND - MAY 27: A cameraman attends a press conference  at the FIFA headquarters on May 27, 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. Swiss police on Wedn

Nominations for the FIFA presidential election close at 11pm on Monday night, so what do we know about the eight men to put their names forward?

Candidates need five letters of support from member associations. They also have to prove they have played an active role in football in two of the past five years. They will also have to pass FIFA integrity checks.

Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa  is expected to stand for the FIFA presidency

Sheikh Salman of Bahrain

Sheikh Salman has been the president of the Asian Football Conference since 2013. He backed outgoing president Sepp Blatter at the last election in May. He is the most powerful man in Asian football and chaired the FIFA taskforce that moved the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to winter.

He is a close friend and ally of key IOC and FIFA powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad of Kuwait.

Sheik Salman has denied allegations that, as the head of the Bahrain FA and a member of the royal family, he was involved in a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in 2011.

UEFA president Michel Platini

Michel Platini

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The UEFA president was the favourite for the position until he was questioned by Swiss prosecutors last month about a £1.3m payment he received from Blatter in 2011.

Platini has vowed to stay in the race and clear his name. UEFA have now put up another candidate, Gianni Infantino - who may step aside if Platini is cleared. If Platini fails to clear his name, then Infantino will be UEFA's candidate.

NYON, SWITZERLAND - JUNE 24:  Gianni Infantino, UEFA General Secretary, shows the name FC BATE Borisov during the UEFA Champions League Q2 qualifying round

Gianni Infantino 

Infantino is currently the General Secretary of UEFA, a position he has held since October 2009 and is currently also serving as a member of FIFA's Reform Committee.

A trained lawyer, Infantino joined UEFA in August 2000 as part of their legal team and was appointed Director of UEFA's Legal Affairs and Club Licensing Division in January 2004.

He was promoted to Deputy General Secretary before becoming General Secretary. He speaks fluent English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.

FIFA vice-president and contender for the role of FIFA President Prince Ali bin al Hussein delivers his speech

Prince Ali of Jordan

The Sandhurst graduate and brother of the King of Jordan is the only man who took on Blatter in last May's election. With the backing of UEFA, he won 73 of the 209 votes, but without that backing this time, he is unlikely to do any better. Ali has lost support in Europe after he turned on Platini, describing him as "the son of Blatter".

Ali wants FIFA to be truly democratic. He says the World Cup in Qatar will be a wonderful tournament.  

Jerome Champagne

Champagne is a former FIFA deputy secretary general who announced on Friday that he would stand. The former French diplomat failed to receive the five letters of support he needed to stand in last May's election.

Champagne has called for greater transparency at FIFA and wants to cut the number of European teams in World Cups from 2026.

He is also in favour of video technology to help referees and would introduce quotas to encourage more women to work at member associations.

Tokyo Sexwale has confirmed he will stand in FIFA presidential race

Tokyo Sexwale

South African Sexwale is a diamond magnate who is close to Blatter. He was appointed by Blatter to mediate on football disputes between Palestine and Israel and is also a FIFA anti-racism adviser.

Before making his money, he was an anti-apartheid activist who spent 13 years in prison with Nelson Mandela. Sexwale was on the organising committee of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

He was also the host of the South African version of The Apprentice.

David Nakhid launches FIFA campaign

David Nakhid

Nakhid is a former Trinidad & Tobago midfielder who now runs a football academy in Beirut.

Caribbean associations have 25 of CONCACAF's 35 votes in the presidential election.

Nakhid is campaigning on a platform of more transparency and an increased emphasis on football development worldwide.

He also wants to repair the damage done to the reputation of Caribbean football by former CONCACAF president Jack Warner.

Liberia FA chairman Musa Bility

Musa Bility

Bility has been the president of the Liberian FA since 2010. He is not afraid of speaking his mind or challenging the African Football Confederation, which has been run since 1988 by Issa Hayatou. Hayatou is the acting president of FIFA.

In the 2011 FIFA presidential election, Bility broke ranks with other African associations by declaring his support for Mohamed Bin Hammam instead of Sepp Blatter.

In 2013, he was given a six month ban for breaking African Football Confederations rules about the use of confidential documents. He denied any wrongdoing and said he had been targeted because he had challenged the confederation leadership

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