Elections for European candidates seeking seats on FIFA Council set for April

Elections for five European member seats on the FIFA Council will take place at the 41st Ordinary UEFA Congress in Helsinki on 5 April next year.

Five candidates will be standing for four seats with four-year terms, and another election for a two-year term will be held, following the official announcement by Mr Wolfgang Niersbach that he is stepping down with immediate effect from his position on the FIFA Council.

The deadline for submitting candidatures for the four-year terms expired on 5 December, and the five candidates are:

Sándor Csányi (Hungary)

Costakis Koutsokoumnis (Cyprus)

Vitaly Mutko (Russia)

Dejan Savićević (Montenegro)

Geir Thorsteinsson (Iceland)

UEFA’s administration has submitted the completed eligibility questionnaires for all five candidates, to enable the FIFA Review Committee to carry out the necessary eligibility checks ahead of the election.

Following Mr Niersbach’s announcement, the additional election for the two-year term will take place because his mandate as a FIFA Council member was due to end in 2019. Candidatures for this additional seat must be proposed to the UEFA administration in writing by 24.00 CET (midnight) on Thursday 5 January 2017 at the latest, and any additional eligibility checks would then be carried out by FIFA.

Any of the five candidates for the four-year terms of office may take part in the second election for the two-year term of office, provided they inform UEFA of their wish to do so before the 5 January deadline.

Next spring’s UEFA Congress in Helsinki will also feature elections for the UEFA Executive Committee. Eight members will be elected for four-year terms. The deadline for candidatures is Sunday 5 February 2017.