Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/589122
21 Sport maltatoday, Wednesday, 21 OctOber 2015 football Suspension keeps Michel Platini out of fifa presidential election 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 on February 26. The Frenchman, however, was handed a provisional 90-day sus- pension together with FIFA presi- dent Sepp Blatter two weeks ago. Both men are being investigated over a £1.35million payment Plati- ni received from Blatter in 2011, which they say related to consul- tancy work Platini completed nine years earlier. A FIFA statement read: "Domen- ico Scala, in his capacity as chair- man of the FIFA Ad-hoc electoral Committee, provided information to the executive Committee re- garding 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 def- inite) 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 denies any wrongdoing and is awaiting the verdict of the FIFA appeals committee after challenging his suspension. If Platini's suspension 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 ex- ecutive Committee that, should such a ban be lifted or expire be- fore 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 candi- dacy concerned." There had also been uncertainty surrounding the timing of the election and whether it might be postponed in light of the investiga- tions into Blatter and Platini. FIFA's executive committee, however, confirmed at an emer- gency meeting in Zurich on Tues- day that the vote will go ahead as planned. The statement read: "FIFA exCo reconfirms 26 February 2016 as the date of the extraordinary elec- tive congress in Zurich." In addition to Platini, former Fifa vice-president Prince Ali bin al-hussein, former Trinidad and Tobago player David Nakhid, and Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman al-Khal- ifa are expected to stand. The election will decide the successor to Blatter, who has been president since 1998 but an- nounced his decision to stand down in June following the arrest of seven FIFA officials on corrup- tion charges. Swiss prosecutors then opened criminal proceedings against Blatter in September for criminal mismanagement and the "disloyal payment" to Platini. FIFA's ethics committee has pre- viously been prevented from mak- ing public details of its investiga- tions and decisions but the body said it had agreed on Tuesday to a change in the ruling. "The committee agreed to an important change to the rules governing investigations and de- cisions made by the independent ethics Committee," a statement read. "Article 36 of FIFA's Code of eth- ics will be amended to allow the ethics Committee, at its discre- tion, 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 un- derstanding of their work." FIFA's reform committee also presented its recommendations to the executive committee on how the organisation can become more transparent. Former International Olympic Committee director-general Fran- cois Carrard was picked by FIFA in August to lead the 12-person panel, which includes officials from the six continental confed- erations. The reform committee called for FIFA presidents to be subject to an age limit of 74 and a maximum term of 12 years, with salaries of the president and other senior of- ficials to be made public. It also recommended the execu- tive committee be changed to the "FIFA Council", which would over- see strategic matters but not have executive powers over policies. The report read: "In order to restore confidence in FIFA, sig- nificant changes to FIFA's institu- tional structure and operational processes are necessary to make them more transparent and ac- countable. "essential changes to the culture of FIFA are necessary to effect lasting change on the organization and to restore FIFA's reputation so that it can focus on its mission: to promote football throughout the world." UEFA President Michel Platini MotorSPortS Gianluca Dingli places 5th in the Sparco Trophy Final registers fastest lap alfred a. farrugia YOUNg gianluca Dingli has re- corded an excellent result in the ROK Cup 2015 International Fi- nal when he finished 5th in the Sparco Trophy, at the South garda Karting circuit in Lonato, Italy. This international karting event attracted no less than 347 drivers from all over the world in 5 dif- ferent categories – the Mini ROK, the Junior ROK, the ROK, the Su- per ROK and the Shifter ROK. gianluca assisted by Zanchi Mo- torsport and gP Racing, had an arduous qualifying series in the ROK category. he was the only Maltese karting driver among 56 international competitors. In the Junior ROK young An- dreas Camilleri, the only other Maltese driver, did not have much luck and was eliminated after the results of the qualifying heats were merged. In the Qualifying Practice group 2 gianluca placed 21st among 27 competitors and one other com- petitor who did not classify. When the two qualifying prac- tice groups were merged, gianluca found himself in the 41st position among 56 competitors, including one who did not classify. In the Qualifying heat A-B, gi- anluca started from the 11th row of the starting grid, and finished in 18th place. In the Qualifying heat A-C, gi- anluca started from the 11th row of the starting grid again, but this time he finished 27th. In the Qualifying heat A-D, gi- anluca started from the 11th row of the starting grid once more, but this time he finished in the 16th position – the best position until that stage. On the basis of his 3 qualifying heats, gianluca was classified in 9th position for the Sparco Tro- phy, and 43rd overall. So gianluca was on the 5th row of the starting grid for the ROK Cup Sparco Trophy, in which he finished in an excellent 5th place. From the 9th position on the starting grid, gianluca dropped to the 10th place in the first lap, and in the third lap he dropped to the 11th place. But in the 5th lap he gained the 10th place again, and in the 7th lap he gained the 9th place. In the 8th lap, gianluca gained another place to claim 8th position. In the 9th lap, he moved to the 7th place. In lap 13, gianluca moved up to the 6th place, and in the 14th lap he moved one more place to gain the 5th position, which he suc- ceeded to defend until the end, the 15th lap. gianluca recorded his fastest lap in lap 11, with a time of 45.156 seconds – the fastest lap of the event at a speed of 80.52 Km/h! This was the best result at the South garda Karting circuit in Italy for gianluca, and he wishes to thank the Bambinu garage, Zoqdi Racing and Burmmarrad Commercials, among others, for their support. Young Andreas Camilleri also had a useful experience compet- ing among 70 international com- petitors in the Junior ROK catego- ry. In the first qualifying practice, Andreas placed 31 among 35 competitors. This placed him in the 59th position among the 70 competitors, one of whom did not classify. In the Qualifying heat C-D, Andreas started from the 15th row of the grid and placed 34th. In the Qualifying heat B-C, he started from the 15th row of the grid again, and he finished in the 34th place again. In the Qualify- ing heat A-C, Andreas started from the 15th row of the grid once more and this time he finished in the 31st position, the best until that stage. however, when all the three qualifying heats were merged, Andreas was eliminated because only the first 68 competitors were allowed to move to the pre-finals, and his results were not enough to continue. Andreas is still very young and he has a bright future in front of him. Gianluca Dingli competing in the Sparco Trophy where he finished 5th