FIFA has confirmed seven candidates have come forward to run in its election for a new president on February 26.
The candidates proposed are Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Musa Bility, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino, Michel Platini, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Tokyo Sexwale.
Former Trinidad and Tobago footballer David Nakhid submitted his candidacy last week, but it was rejected on the grounds that one of the five national football associations he gave as endorsing him had already backed another candidate, a FIFA source told AFP.
Candidates need the backing of at least five of FIFA's 209 association members before they can be considered.
FIFA said in a press release that, with the exception of UEFA chief Michel Platini, the candidature dossiers would be processed by its electoral committee.
Platini is currently suspended from all football-related activities for 90 days as part of a clampdown on corruption and fraud at the heart of the FIFA operation.
"Should such a ban be lifted or expire before the FIFA presidential election, the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee would decide, depending on the respective exact point in time, on how to proceed with the candidature concerned," the statement read.
FIFA said that the six other candidate dossiers had now been handed over by the Electoral Committee to the investigatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee to carry out integrity checks.
The chamber will "deliver comprehensive documentation on each candidate, but it will not give any recommendation as to whether or not a candidate may run for the FIFA presidency."
The next step will see the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee review the results of the integrity checks before formally declaring which candidates can stand for the FIFA presidency.
The election next February comes as FIFA is engulfed in a massive corruption probe resulting in 90-day bans for Platini and president Sepp Blatter who is standing down after 17 years in the position.
Those suspensions run out on January 5.
Platini, who starred as a footballer in the 1980s for Juventus and France, had been seen as a strong favourite to take over the FIFA presidency when an under-pressure Blatter announced in June he was standing down.
But as the corruption probe widened, the Frenchman found himself dragged into the scandal over a $2million clandestine payment he received from Blatter on behalf of FIFA in 2011 for consultancy work carried out years before.
Platini has insisted he did nothing wrong, but FIFA suspended him all the same, seriously undermining his hopes of capturing one of the top jobs in world sport.
Who are the seven?
The 39-year-old brother of Jordan's King Abdullah was a special forces member, specialising in parachute jumps. The prince was on the FIFA executive from 2011-15 when he first challenged Sepp Blatter for the presidency. Prince Ali championed the cause of allowing women to play football in a hijab. He has repeatedly demanded greater transparency within FIFA and promised to increase the share of revenues sent back to national associations. He has condemned "backroom deals" as one of the biggest causes of FIFA's long-standing troubles. The prince has been one of the main advocates of releasing the Garcia report into the 2010 votes that gave the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively
One of the greatest footballers of all time and, until implicated in a Swiss criminal investigation into FIFA, one of the sport's most skilful politicians. After being co-chairman of France's 1998 World Cup organisation, he became UEFA president in 2007, since re-elected twice. But the Frenchman's 90-day suspension while FIFA investigates a 1.8 million euro ($A2.75 million) payment from the world body without a written contract has seriously hit the once hot favourite. Platini, 60, made his name as a sports administrator by pressing for football's riches and decision-making to be spread between members
The 57-year-old was a French diplomat in Oman, Los Angeles and Brazil before becoming a protocol adviser for 1998 World Cup organisers. He joined FIFA in 1999 and rose to deputy secretary general under Blatter, leaving in 2010. "I am not ashamed of the FIFA years," he told AFP. Though not a footballer, Champagne was a freelance journalist for the magazine France Football. Champagne had tried to challenge Blatter in this year's election but could not get the required five signatures from national associations to enter. He has vowed to bring in greater transparency, stronger ethical standards and modernise the world body's administration
The South African anti-apartheid campaigner wants to make history by becoming the first African to head football's governing body in its 111-year history. A former politician and one of his country's wealthiest men, Sexwale, 62, was jailed alongside Nelson Mandela. He served 13 years of an 18-year jail term on Robben Island on terrorism charges. A member of South Africa's 2010 World Cup bid team, he serves on FIFA's anti-racism and anti-discrimination committee, likening racism to "a monster that is trying to infiltrate sporting fields". He is also a FIFA media committee member
The soft-spoken Bahraini royal took over an Asian confederation in turmoil in 2013 after Mohamed bin Hammam was kicked out in disgrace, but he has an iron grip on the body. Enjoys strong backing from Kuwaiti powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad al Fahad al Sabah, one of the most-influential figures in world sport and a major player in FIFA and the Olympic movement. This year, Sheikh Salman was re-elected unopposed for a full, four-year term and became a FIFA vice president. But he has been dogged by allegations of being complicit in Bahrain's harsh crackdown on pro-democracy activists in 2011, charges he denies
The 45-year-old Swiss lawyer joined UEFA in 2000 and became general secretary in 2009. Multi-lingual, Infantino's original role was to deal with legal, commercial and professional football matters. He was subsequently appointed as director of legal affairs and club licensing division in 2004. He worked on fostering close contacts with the European Union, the Council of Europe and governmental authorities. Before joining UEFA, he had wide experience working in sport. He had been an adviser to various football bodies in Italy, Spain and Switzerland before working as the general secretary of the International Centre for Sports Studies at the University of Neuchatel
President of the Liberian Football Association, Bility's candidacy is something of surprise. He is one of a select band of Africans to stand for the presidency following current acting FIFA head Issa Hayatou in 2002, and Sexwale this time around. "If we are to change football, then we have to make sure that those (that) have been running FIFA for the last 20-25 years have nothing to do with it," the 48-year-old Bility told the BBC after announcing his candidature
AFP