MONROVIA: After former Brazil superstar Zico, a second potential candidate has thrown his hat into the ring to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of embattled world football federation FIFA writes KEIR RADNEDGE.
Musa Bility, presiden of the Liberian Football Association, declared his ambition in an interview with BBC. He would be first candidate since CAF leader Issa Hayatou was trounced by Blatter in 2002 in congress in Seoul, South Korea.
Bility said he would seek nomination to demonstrate the need for the African game to signal a will for involvement in the world game’s governance.
He said: “If Africa does not put up a candidate, it says a lot about us. It shows a sense of mediocrity and that our only relevance is to vote and make leaders. I think that is not right.”
Unification aim
Defining his likely manifesto Bility noted the amount of “antagonism” which needed a unifying new leader. He wanted to listen to European concerns about corruption without conceding control to UEFA. He also thought that poorer nations should receive more development cash from FIFA.
Bility said: “Africa and Asia particularly have been left behind. The Goal Project and the financial assistance programme are not enough.”
Bility may struggle to obtain support even in Africa since he is not a member of Hayatou’s approved CAF executive committee and has faced his own accusations over the years both at home and within international football.
He was involved in a protracted stand-off with the Liberian government over tax claims against his trading empire and was banned in 2013 for six months from all football activities for using confidential CAF documents without permission. The LFA was also fined $10,000.
Bility also denied a charge of improperly using $50,000 of $630,000.00 given to LFA by FIFA as an FAP development grant.
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