Reuters: FIFA said on Thursday it had admitted five candidates for its presidential election, scheduled for February amid the worst crisis in its history, after Liberia’s Musa Bility failed an integrity check and Michel Platini was also sidelined.

UEFA president Platini, originally the favourite to succeed Sepp Blatter as head of global soccer’s governing body, was not admitted because he is suspended for 90 days pending a full Ethics Committee investigation.

FIFA had already announced that it would not process the Frenchman’s registration while he was suspended, but could review its position if he wins an appeal against the ban.

FIFA has been thrown into turmoil by the U.S. indictments of 14 football officials and sports marketing executives for alleged corruption.

Blatter, also suspended for 90 days, is facing criminal investigation in Switzerland.

FIFA said the five candidates admitted were Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, former FIFA official Jerome Champagne of France, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino of Switzerland and South Africa’s Tokyo Sexwale.

“The integrity check included a review of corporate records, litigation cases, bankruptcy proceedings, potential regulatory actions taken against the candidate and a review of media reports concerning potential red flags (fraudulent behaviour, match manipulation, human rights violations, etc.),” said FIFA.

Bility was not admitted “in view of the content of the integrity check report relating to him.”

Salman has dismissed as “false, nasty lies” allegations that he was involved in human rights abuses during his time as Bahrain Football Association head.

Confidant says Blatter believes he is still FIFA president

Reuters: Suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter believes he still heads the organisation, his confidant and former publicist Klaus Stoehlker said yesterday.

Blatter was suspended in October for 90 days by FIFA’s Ethics Committee pending a full investigation into his conduct and he had been in hospital since Friday, when his USA-based lawyer, Richard Cullen, said the Swiss national had been admitted for a checkup.

Asked if Blatter had been visited by anyone in hospital, Stoehlker said: “There were some official visitors from all part of football and other high-ranking friends,” but he declined to name anyone for political and private reasons.

Stoehlker added: “He is the president, he says and he is deeply convinced. He is elected by the Congress, by the 209 members of the Congress and that’s why he says ‘there is no commission who can suspend me because I am the elected president, it’s a democratic decision to elect a president and only another democratic decision can take another choice’.”

Under the terms of the suspension Blatter, 79, who has been the FIFA president since 1998, is not allowed into the headquarters or any football stadium in an official capacity. Blatter won a fifth election mandate in May just after the graft scandal erupted with police raids on a hotel used by top FIFA officials. Four days later, as pressure mounted, he called a new Congress, in Zurich in February, to choose his successor.

Stoehlker declined to give details of any formal interviews with Blatter.

“I can’t give you details about that commission, for the commission only is allowed to comment what’s going on with the commission, but I can confirm that he is on ongoing contact with the members of the commission.”

In September, the Swiss attorney general’s office initiated criminal proceedings against Blatter over a two million Swiss franc ($2.1 million) payment from FIFA to UEFA President Michel Platini, who has also been suspended and not accepted as a candidate for the FIFA presidency.