Tuesday 20 October 2015 22:45, UK
FIFA has confirmed it will not allow Michel Platini to stand in the presidential election while his ban from football-related activity remains in force.
The deadline for presidential nominations is on Monday and UEFA president Platini has already submitted his candidacy for the vote which the FIFA executive committee has confirmed will take place on February 26, as originally planned.
Platini could, however, be declared ineligible as he was handed a provisional 90-day suspension together with FIFA president Sepp Blatter two weeks ago.
Both men are being investigated over a £1.35m payment Platini received from Blatter in 2011, which they say related to consultancy work Platini completed nine years earlier.
A FIFA statement read: "Domenico Scala, in his capacity as chairman of the FIFA ad-hoc electoral committee, provided information to the executive committee regarding the ongoing process for the FIFA presidential election.
"He explained that candidacies for the FIFA presidency that are submitted in due time and form, but which relate to candidates who are subject to a (provisional or definite) ban from taking part in any football-related activity, will not be processed by the ad-hoc electoral committee as long as such ban is valid and in force."
Platini, who denies any wrongdoing, has challenged his suspension and is awaiting the verdict of the FIFA appeals committee, while UEFA is pushing for a swift decision.
If Platini's suspension, which is due to expire in the first week of January, is lifted before the election on February 26, he may be able to re-enter the race.
FIFA's statement continued: "The chairman also told the executive committee that, should such a ban be lifted or expire before the FIFA presidential election, scheduled for 26 February 2016, the ad-hoc electoral committee would decide, depending on the respective exact point in time, on how to proceed with the candidacy concerned."
Aside from Platini, former FIFA vice-president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan and former Trinidad and Tobago player David Nakhid have said they have submitted their five required federation nominations in order to stand in the presidential election.
Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa has also written to his executive committee saying he has "recently been urged by a growing number of senior people within the game to stand".
As well as confirming the date of the presidential election at its meeting on Tuesday, FIFA's executive committee also eased restrictions on the ethics committee - which has previously been prevented from making public details of its investigations and decisions - allowing for "more transparency for ethics proceedings".
A FIFA statement read: "Article 36 of FIFA's code of ethics will be amended to allow the ethics committee, at its discretion, to publish more information about its ongoing proceedings.
"The independent chairmen of the committee's two chambers, Hans-Joachim Eckert and Cornel Borbely, had strongly advocated such an amendment, which will increase the transparency and understanding of their work."
As a result of this amendment, the ethics committee is expected to name individuals who are under investigation on Wednesday.
The FIFA crisis, which was sparked by the arrest of football officials in Zurich ahead of Blatter's re-election in May, led to a reform process being instigated to overhaul how the organisation is run.
FIFA's reform committee presented its recommendations to the executive committee on Tuesday.
Potential changes include the imposition of a 12-year term limit and an age limit of 74 for the president. The 79-year-old Blatter had served as FIFA president for more than 17 years until he was suspended.
It has also been proposed that the executive committee be renamed as the "FIFA Council".
The council would be restricted to overseeing "strategic matters" rather than having "executive powers over policies" and the general secretary would be replaced by a chief executive.
Other recommendations made by the reform committee - to be voted on by FIFA Congress in February - were for the development committee to have at least three independent members and for the finance committee to have a majority of independent members and members who are financially competent.
It has also been recommended that the salaries of the president, all FIFA Council members, the general secretary and all chairmen of independent standing and judicial committees be made public, while another proposal was for each confederation to have at least one voting FIFA Council seat for women.
The reform committee's report read: "In order to restore confidence in FIFA, significant changes to FIFA's institutional structure and operational processes are necessary to make them more transparent and accountable.
"Essential changes to the culture of FIFA are necessary to effect lasting change on the organisation and to restore FIFA's reputation so that it can focus on its mission: to promote football throughout the world."
Meanwhile, David Ginola has released a statement suggesting he might re-open his bid for a presidency campaign. His previous attempt failed in January because he did not have enough member nations' support.
