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FOOTBALL

Three candidates challenge Fifa president

Zurich-based Fifa, football's world governing body, announced on Monday that four candidates are bidding to become its president, including long-time Swiss incumbent Sepp Blatter.

The three others who have thrown their hat into the ring are Asian Football Confederation vice-president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, former Portugal international Luis Figo and Dutch football chief Michael van Praag.
   
Two others who had been considering making bids — former France international forward David Ginola and ex-FIFA executive official Jérôme Champagne — both failed to get the necessary backing from five national associations.
   
A Fifa statement said that the candidature dossiers would next go before the investigatory chamber of an independent Ethics Committee to carry out integrity checks on the four men within ten days.
   
"Upon receipt of the results of the integrity checks, the (Fifa) Ad-hoc Electoral Committee will reconvene in order to review all of the submissions and validate their compliance with the applicable Fifa regulatory provisions.
   
"Following this process, the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee will formally admit and declare the candidates who are eligible for the office of Fifa president."
   
After that the Fifa executive committee will meet in Zurich on May 29th and decide if Blatter will get a fifth term as president or bring in a new man.
   
The 78-year-old Swiss bureaucrat is seen as an outstanding favourite to win a new term despite a storm of protest over the way he runs the organization.

He has managed to ride out past criticism, including this spoof video related to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil:

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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