Skip to main content

Musa Bility protests Domenico Scala's Fifa election role

LFA boss Musa Bility
The man overseeing Fifa's presidential polls should step aside due to conflict of interest, says the Liberian FA.
Domenico Scala, who heads up Fifa's Ad-Hoc Electoral Committee, is Swiss-Italian - as is Gianni Infantino, one of the five presidential candidates.
Scala excused himself from the 2015 elections as he shared nationality with a candidate, Swiss Sepp Blatter.
LFA boss Musa Bility says he will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if Scala does not withdraw by Thursday.
The battle to replace long-standing president Blatter takes place in 18 days' time.
"Article 7.4 of the Electoral Regulations is clear that any member of the Ad-Hoc Electoral Committee who has a conflict of interest … is thereby barred from sitting as a member of the Committee and must be replaced," Bility wrote in a letter to Scala on Monday.
The five Fifa presidential contenders:
Prince Ali of Jordan
Frenchman Jerome Champagne
Swiss/Italian Gianni Infantino
Bahrain's Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa
South African Tokyo Sexwale
Ahead of elections in May 2015 between Blatter and Prince Ali of Jordan - both Scala and Claudio Sulser, who was also on the Ad-Hoc Electoral Committee, stepped aside for this reason.
"Prior to the final review process, Domenico Scala (as a dual Swiss/Italian national) and Claudio Sulser (as a Swiss national) withdrew from their positions to avoid any appearance of a potential conflict of interest based on nationality," Fifa wrote at the time.
However Andreas Bantel, a spokesman for Scala, says "the fact that a member of the ad-hoc electoral committee has the same nationality as a candidate does not result in a conflict of interest.
"There is no such provision whatsoever in the relevant regulations of Fifa," he told BBC Sport.
"For the last election period Mr Scala withdrew because the Swiss candidate was the incumbent President. Scala did so in order to avoid even any appearance of a potential conflicted of interest situation and simply as a precautionary measure on a voluntary base.
"For this election there are five candidates with no incumbent President. Hence, there is no potential conflict of interest at all."
It remains to be seen whether Bility will go ahead with his threat to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In his letter to Scala, he wants to know why the same process has not been followed ahead of the 26 February election.
"Following an unprecedented period of sustained turmoil and damage for Fifa as an institution, the fairness and integrity of the current electoral process are absolutely vital for Fifa," Bility wrote.
"If we do not receive confirmation from the Fifa Ah-Hoc Electoral Committee within three working days of receipt of this latter that you are stepping down … with immediate effect, the Liberian FA reserves its right to challenge that decision by all available routes."
Bility had hoped to participate in the elections himself before being denied by the Electoral Committee in November after failing an eligibility check.
On Saturday, the Liberian pledged his vote to Prince Ali while urging his fellow Africans to do the same.
Alongside Prince Ali and Infantino, Frenchman Jerome Champagne, Bahrain's Sheikh Salman and South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale are also bidding to replace Blatter as president.
The election, which is voted on by Fifa's 209 members, will take place in the organisation's headquarters in the Swiss city Zurich

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

President George Weah's One Day National Forum Successfully Attended by 26 Political Parties

On Thursday, August 8, 2018, President George Weah had a sit down with 26 political parties of Liberia.  The meeting aimed at advancing ideals that promote the spirit of national unity and political tolerance between opposition political parties and the government.  ANC, LP and UP attended the meeting as a team. According to Deputy Minister Eugene L. Fahngon, Deputy Minister for Press and Public Affairs at Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs & Tourism, all 26 political parties attended and participated from start to finish.  Even though, social media was buzzing about AB Dillion walking out of the meeting, he walked out as an individual and not a political party, "the invitation was extended to political parties and not to individuals," Minister Fahngon stated in his live video.  Each political party gave ideals and recommendations, which made the meeting a great success.  According to  Deputy Minister Fahngon, "there will be future engagement...

What President Trump and Kim Jong Un Ate

The historic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued midday Tuesday, as the leaders satisfied their appetites while holding negotiations with a contingent of advisers over a working lunch. The lunch, which followed a 45-minute one-on-one meeting between the leaders earlier in the morning and bilateral discussion with senior aides, was held at the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island. It was far from an intimate affair, with each leader accompanied by a bevy of senior staff, according to the White House. Joining Trump were Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chief of Staff John Kelly, National Security Advisor John Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Deputy Assistant to the President for Asian Affairs Matthew Pottinger. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol , the former spy chief and one of North Korea’s chief negotiators, as well as Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, former...

Liberian Superstar Quincy B Dead

2 March 2017 / Berenice Mulubah  Quincy B On March 3, 2017, Liberian superstar, Quincy L. Borrow aka Quincy B, died from a car accident, on his way from KARAOKE NITE, in Monrovia, Liberia.  The artist was pulled out of the damaged vehicle and rush to the JFK hospital. Quincy B did not survived.   Few hours before his death, the artist was spotted live on snap chat, singing Karaoke. Quincy B who was the driver of the car, died immediately.  Artists CIC , Margas Bimba and Feouls Kaba in the vehicle, as well, they are at the hospital, being treated.  CIC broken his legs in the accident. CIC and Quincy B are nominated for the Liberian Entertainment Awards 2017.