South African FA President Danny Jordaan said that Tokyo Sexwale's bid to become FIFA president "was doomed as soon as his own confederation refused to back him," according to Nick Said of REUTERS. Businessman Sexwale "pulled out of the race," won by UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino, "just before voting started on Feb. 26 and Jordaan believes his chances were dashed when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) opted to back rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa."
CAF "handed their endorsement to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president at an executive meeting in Rwanda last month, shortly after the Bahraini royal had signed a lucrative co-operation agreement between CAF and the AFC." Jordaan: "He had a meeting with the CAF executive and I think that there are things that they put to him there as to why they found it difficult to support him. When we left Kigali, it was clear that CAF was not going to support him." Jordaan, however, believes FIFA "has been strengthened by the election of Infantino." He said,
"The reporting lines are clear, the governance of FIFA is strengthened, transparency has been strengthened" (REUTERS, 3/3).
