FIFA presidential candidate Gianni Infantino voiced confidence yesterday he would get more than the 105 votes he needs to win Friday’s election for the new head of football’s world governing body.

FIFA is engulfed in a corruption scandal that has led to the indictment of several dozen leading football officials in the United States.

Outgoing president Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, head of UEFA, have been banned for eight years for ethics violations, which they deny.

Infantino, the Swiss general secretary of UEFA, is one of five candidates standing in the election, in which each of FIFA’s 209 national football associations (FAs) holds one vote. He and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain are considered the front-runners in a field that also includes South Africa’s Tokyo Sexwale, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan and Frenchman Jerome Champagne.

Infantino told Reuters Television in an interview: “I am very confident about the situation, and the discussions I’m having with the leaders of many associations make me feel even more confident, so I hope to have some more than 105.”

He said Blatter and Platini were among the people he had spoken to, although he had not taken any advice.