South African Fifa presidential candidate Tokyo Sexwale will host two of his election rivals, Gianni Infantino and Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, at Robben Island today.
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The source said Sexwale had invited all four fellow candidates, but Frenchman Jérôme Champagne and Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan were not able to accept the offer due to other engagements.
Infantino may be talking up his support publicly to try to build a sense of momentum going into the final days of the campaign, but there are suggestions that former FIFA President Sepp Blatter has helped his position in Africa.
Appearing together at a news conference, Infantino and Sexwale called the South African visit symbolic, but the importance of Africa’s votes to Infantino’s chances was perhaps underlined by his decision to make the last-minute trip.
Federation Internationale de Football Association is embroiled in a corruption scandal that has led to indictments against several dozen senior officials in the United States.
The wealthy South African businessman is said to have taken Infantino – who is a frontrunner for the top job – on a museum tour to view memorabilia of the Makana FA, the football league he started for political prisoners while he was on Robben Island.
He was a member of the African National Congress and a post-apartheid government minister before moving into business and becoming involved with Fifa’s Anti-Discrimination Task Force.
“I think I will get more half the African votes”, the UEFA general secretary told reporters.
“This coming week is the most significant in FIFA’s 112-year history and the 209 member associations have the ability to define not just their own destiny, but also that of FIFA and global football”, he said.
Sexwale’s bid for support from elsewhere in Africa fell flat this month when the Confederation of African Football instead endorsed Sheikh Salman. “I guess they will vote for me because they said so but because it (the ballot) is held behind a curtain you never know for who they cast their vote”.
“Towards the finishing line there will be alliances”, Sexwale said.
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The 50-year-old’s candidacy has been dogged by questions over the 2011 Arab Spring in Bahrain, where he was accused of not doing more to protect Bahrain players who suffered alleged abuses after pro-democracy protests. “It’s a secretive process”, he said.
