SVGFF attends CONCACAF Extraordinary Meeting

President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) Joseph Delves and General Secretary Ian Hypolite will attend an extraordinary General Meeting of the North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) in Trinidad and Tobago, today as well as tomorrow.{{more}}

The extraordinary meeting has been called to facilitate FIFA Presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hamman, who is looking to the grouping for its support.

Hamman was unable to address CONCACAF’s Congress last week in Miami, as he was unable to secure a US visa.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) boss is trying to unseat the incumbent President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, who is seeking his fourth successive term.

Hamman is expected to make a two-hour presentation to more than 80 CONCACAF delegates at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain.

After both presentations are considered, CONCACAF is expected to announce whom it will back for the FIFA presidency.

However, Hamman, a Qatari multi-millionaire may be running an exercise in futility, as at last week’s CONCACAF Congress, it was made clear that the confederation was voting en bloc, and with 35 votes, it is more than likely that the votes will go to Blatter.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines was represented at the CONCACAF Congress by President Joseph Delves and Committee Member Kamara Doyle.

CONCACAF’s head, Austin “Jack” Warner, is a strong ally of Blatter.

Blatter was present at the Congress and outlined his policies for the sport.

Warner was reinstated as President for a sixth consecutive term in the North and Central American and Caribbean region, last week.

Warner was nominated unopposed for his position earlier this year.

As he reassumed office, Warner told his delegates that he was humbled by the trust bestowed upon him by his brothers and sisters.

UEFA has also indicated its support of Blatter; so too has the German Football Association.

Blatter, Fifa’s eighth president since the organisation was founded in 1904, joined as a technical officer in 1975 and was General Secretary from 1981 to 1998 under the presidency of Joao Havelange.

In 1998, he swept to a 111-80 victory over Swede Lennart Johansson, the UEFA president, who conceded defeat, forgoing a second ballot.

Four years later, Blatter took a landslide 139-56 vote victory over Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, the president of the African confederation, and, if anything, his grip on FIFA has tightened since then.

There were no opponents when he was re-elected in 2007.

The election will be held on June 1, at the FIFA Congress in Zurich, where each one of the 208 member national associations holds a vote, provided it is not suspended at the time.