0:00 the long-running FIFA presidency saga. There are just nine days to go now for candidates to declare they want to challenge Jeani Infantino. As I said, our chief correspondent Carve Sol is here. There's been a development. So, tell us. >> Yes, Arens Wenger is considering standing to become the next FIFA president. He will make a decision in the coming days. Now he is such a wellrespected figure in football that I think he would have a fighting chance of beating Infantino. We know that we are going to have a president election next March in Morocco. I think Johnny Infantino has been trying to create the impression that he is the favorite and there's no point standing against him.
0:45 He's been on a whistle stop tour around the world drumming up support and he does have a lot of support. But if there's anybody who can beat Johnny Infantino, I think it is somebody like Aren Wenger. Now, it's going to be a difficult decision for Arren Wenger because he was given a job at FIFA by Giani Infantino 7 years ago. He's been working as FIFA's chief of global football development. >> Too brute. But to be fair to Arsen Wenger, in all the dealings I and other journalists have had with him, he has not got involved in football politics, uh, football development is his passion. That is what he's been focusing on. >> All right. So, you've said he'd have a good chance of winning or certainly have
1:31 a chance of winning. If he were to win, what sort of president would he make? >> Well, he would be a breath of fresh air. A lot of people, >> he was a breath of fresh air. Infantino Carve >> 10 10 years ago he said he was going to be a breath of fresh air. Look a lot of uh people in football have had enough of Johnny Infantino. They want to move on from Giani Infantino. They think he's been involved in far too many controversies and scandals. But to be fair to Johnny Infantino, he would say I'm still the favorite despite all these scandals to win again. Why? because I've got significant support in Africa, in South America, in the Caribbean, in Asia, in Oceanana. So, it's not going to be easy to beat Johnny Infantino. But I
2:17 think Aren Wenger, if he decides to stand, would have a fighting chance. And the reason I say that is because he would have the backing of Europe. So, he would have the backing of pretty much all the 55 football associations in Europe. And remember, you need 106 FAS to win. So he's more than halfway to getting to 106. I think it would be difficult for him to pick up support as much support as Johnny Infantino from the rest of the world. But presidential elections are very very unpredictable. I remember 10 years ago reporting on the election which ended up with Johnny Infantino winning and he wasn't the favorite. The f favorite was Shake Salman from Bahrain. So anything can happen during presidential elections.
3:03 And the reason I think arson Wenger would be an outstanding candidate is he would be the football candidate. He is not a politician. He is not a businessman. He is somebody who loves football, loves a beautiful game. He used to be a player. He was a manager. He's been an administrator as well. And he hasn't been involved in any scandals. So I think it would be a breath of fresh air. A lot of football fans around the world would love it, but let's not get carried away because first of all, he's got to make up his mind and decide whether he wants to stand and then after that he would face a real fight on his hands to beat Johnny Infantino. >> Right. You said breath of fresh air, outstanding candidate. Can I remind you
3:48 this is the man who wanted a World Cup every two years. That's just sheer commercialism. Is he really the right man for the job? Look, if that's all you can say, you know, uh, against Arson Wenger, then I think that's pretty good. If you want to become the FIFA president, he's worked at FIFA for seven years. You are absolutely right. He did come out in favor of a World Cup every two years. That raised a lot of eyebrows because people like you and I remember the fact that when he was Arsenal manager for 22 years, he did not like his players going away on international duty. He's also uh been involved in this controversial idea for the daylight offside rule that a lot of people don't like. But look, these are football
4:35 issues that he's become involved in. And since he's been in Zurich working at FIFA HQ, that's what he's focused on. Football issues on pitch matters, not what goes on off the pitch. What will be really interesting to see over the next few days as well is we know that UEFA have ha are having a series of meetings because they have totally lost faith in Johnny Infantino. They are looking at putting forward a candidate. So over the next few days it'll be interesting to see whether that candidate will be Aren Wenger or whether they come up with an alternative candidate. But I for one speaking purely in a personal capacity having dealt with Asen Wenger when he was the Arsenal manager I would love to
5:21 see him standing to become the next FIFA president. If I had a vote I'd vote for >> I wish you had a vote. Um not long to wait now. Carve Solakala chief correspondent. Thank you, Garvey.
