i'm i'm stephanie sy. we now join our colleagues from switzerland. >> i wish to play this role. i would like to continue with you. this is a matter of trust, confidence from you. to me a matter of respect towards each and every of you. you representatives of football federations everywhere i am at your disposal. i am at your command. if you wish me to continue this journey with you, i extend all thanks to you. my friends, and lovers of footballers, football is not just a game. it requires a great leader

veteran, experienced, aware of the secrets. we must strengthen our relationships with our fellow colleagues, and economy-drivers, politicians, decision makers discipline respect, sportsmanship. this is it. i once again salute you and i wish to see you again. i am at your disposal. >> that certainly is one defiant man. the president of fifa who is desperately trying to hold on to his job. stay on for a fifth term saying that he wants to stay among you. he wants to carry on doing his job. he's been challenged by ali of jordan who was talking about getting this job, taking it over

from sepp blatter just a few short minutes ago. and this comes ahead of a vote in zurich who determine who will be the next president or if indeed sepp blatter gets to keep his job. let's go to our correspondent andy richardson. he has been listening in and watching the day's proceedings from zurich. so what do you make of what both men said there, andy? >> reporter: well sepp blatter not surprisingly in very defined form. he's never -- never been a loser. he has only ever had to take on another candidate twice during his time because he has such support within that congress hall saying i am with you. i'm among you. and i wish to stay among you. short of a veiled threat it sounds like. but in the 17 years that he has been in charge of fifa a lot of countries have done very well. when he took over fifa was

pretty much bankrupt financially. we're hearing today the details of fifa's finances worth about $73 million over just only 10, 12 years ago, now they have more than $1.5 billion in reserve, and a billion dollars of cash is invested in football around the world, so you can understand that a lot of previously impoverished football associations have now got a lot of cash coming their way from fifa for developing football in their countries. that makes him very popular. he is basically saying i have been with you for 17 years, and if you vote for me you have four more years of the same. talking about corruption racism match fixing. his big emblem is the handshake for peace, saying that things can be resolved through handshakes. that's all well and good but in charge of such a massive global

organization people would expect a more professal basis than just a handshake. regarding ali hussein that is the first big speech we have heard from him. this has effectively been a five to six-hour campaign manifesto where he has been able to play videos and have speeches about all of the great things that fifa is doing around the world. the prince said it's not the job of a president to talk about empowering an organization and then rooting out corruption. >> prince ali of jordan has appealed for votes from the 209 member states. >> we want a governing body that is worthy of the world's game.

i ask you with honor, and call on you to join me because i know hand and hand we can deliver a new begin for fifa. i ask of you please do not fight for me by giving me your vote fight alongside of me for our future. for the soul of our game and for the future of fifa. to the 209 delegates here you hold the responsibility of changing the way fifa operates. you hold the future of fifa in your hands. i humbly ask you for your vote and as you cast your ball late today, i ask you only to listen to your conscience and listen to your hearts. thank you very much. >> andy you were saying earlier that you were surprised at how outspoken he has been.

how much support does he have and when are we likely to find out who the winner is going to be? >> reporter: okay. prince ali's team are relatively confident at least making this a serious election. on thursday he addressed the european governing body. he is preaching to the converted there. michel platini said he wants as many countries in europe as possible to vote for prince ali. blatter does still have support in europe. but they thought they had as many as 60 votes in addition to the ones they had in europe. in that may appear ambitious, but i'm hearing they feel they

may have as many as 80. each member goes up to the stage and pops their vote into a ballot box. at the end of that those votes are counted. and in the first round of voting you need a two-third's majority to become fifa president. so there's a chance prince ali's team think of at least taking it into a second round. and then we'll really get to see if what has happened over the last couple of days really has managed to upset the status quo of world football politics. >> let's find out more about this vote from robin. >> yeah each member association get a single secret ballot in the vote home to the wealthy leagues and clubs in the world,

europe of course they have got 54 votes. michel platini have made it clear they support prince ali. south america is expected to support blatter, they just have ten votes. the united states and canada have pledged their support for prince ali, but it's unclear if any countries will be joining them. and new zealand say they will be switching camps. asia carries a very large 46 votes, and despite being the home federation of prince ali, they are major supporters of sepp blatter. africans have the most votes with 54. they support blatter. >> thanks robin.

to discuss blatter's ground swell of support from africa we bring in david smith. why is he so popular in places like africa? >> yeah he spent years coming to africa and running programs that have really benefited african football in one way or the other. earlier this week for example, i visited zambia and there the football association of zambia has a shining new headquarters that was -- was built with money from fifa under sepp blatter. he attended the opening ceremony sometime ago now, and the people there said look before this we used to rent four small rings downtown, it cost a lot of money. now we'll give you a tour of our headquarters.

this is really our base now, and we're very grateful to sepp blatter for that and the other projects under fifa's gold development program, and a journalist said to me what you are looking at in zambia is true in many african countries, and really it depends on your perspective. you could see this as blatter being a generous inclusive man, remembering africa in a way that's, you know very few people do you know, beyond football africa is often neglected and forgotten, but it has included it in and also brought the world cup itself to south africa in 2010. but if you are a little more cynical, you could argue that blatter does this to win the hearts and minds in a very calculated way. he knows africa is the biggest

voting block, and therefore he has always cleverly courted its favors. >> whatever the reason is david, however he plays it it has managed to keep him in this job, and relatively free from getting involved with any of the flak. >> yes, you know, he has built up these -- these power bases in various continents. obviously not europe and there are some others who are breaking away, if you would like but africa you know, the world's second biggest continent with 54 countries, that's an absolutely crucial voting block, and if you have got africa on your side you are pretty much already -- i suppose statistically more than a quarter of the way to the presidency already, and, you know, it is a great shield for

him. it will probably be the case even with these latest allegations. this scandal that would bring down many leaders of -- many organizations, you know, the -- the african block votes because of that loyalty he commands there, because of memories of the 2010 world cup is pretty likely to come to his rescue once again. >> well let's wait and see. thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us. as we were talking to you, we were looking at a live picture of people voting there for blatter or not. whatever happens, though robin, something needs to change. >> absolutely. and blatter has said as much. he says that he is the man to weather the storm, but something andy touched on earlier, saying you cannot be accused of corruption and all of these things and then you say i'm the man to take it forward.

it's not just a game it requires a great leader. he says it is him. i know i can bank on you with regard to the objections we need to achieve. which is a lot like his 2011 presidential speech. where he says i need another four years to take these objectives forward, i won't be standing for another term then. here we are four years later, and he's saying i still haven't done by objectives and i need another four years. the voting is taking place now. it's still a secret ballot each of the member states will be coming to cast their votes, so we expect it to take an hour hour and a half. and of course the other candidate prince ali has also been speaking and made an impassioned plea for people to be voting for him. he sees it as a rebuilding

project. it has been dogged by corruption and allegations of mismanagement and bribery and he feels that he's the fresh candidate to take the organization forward. >> and also the developed versus the developing word here. >> absolutely. sepp blatter has the developing word's support at the moment. >> as you said they are voting. it is possibly going to take another hour or so and as soon as we get the results, of course we'll let you know. i think the whole world is braced to see if he keeps his job or not. other news coming up as part of our special coverage of the desperate struggles of the migrants in asia. i'm rob reynolds in oregon with a report on the deplorable housing conditions experienced by native american families decades after they were displaced by hydroelectric dams.

and jack warner accuses the u.s. of a witch hunt over his corruption arrest. ♪ nigeria's new president says his government will intensify the fight against the armed group, boko haram. he was speaking after he was sworn into office during the ceremony in the capitol. he also said a new military command center would be created in the boko haram strong hold. our correspondent reports now from abuja. >> reporter: he has finally been sworn in as nigeria's new president. there was pomp ceremony and emotion. leaders from across the african content including, including the president of south africa the u.s. secretary of state john

kerry, and others. president goodluck jonathan handed over the presidency. there is ongoing celebrations and ceremonies taking place across the country to mark what is an historic occasion. there's a feeling that mohammed will lead by example. he is seen as a highly disciplined individual and an incorruptible man. people's expectations here are incredibly high. the question is how long will it take for him to deliver the dividends of democracy that nigerians want to see. >> we're joined now live from northern nigeria. so he has made many promises hasn't he? how much do you think he'll be able to pull off? >> reporter: well there is a

tremendous amount of goodwill for him at the moment. first of all, he has got a lot of international support. he has promised to deal with boko haram. nigeria is receiving support from his neighbors in checking attacks in both nigeria and across the border into chad niger, and cameroon. and looking at the economy, this is one big problem he will have a lot of headaches. all right there are some analysts saying that the nigerian economy is in shamblings and there has been a lot of waste in the system and there is few amount of money in the treasury to tackle nigeria's key problems. there are falling revenues and if what the analysts are saying is true that nigeria's reserves, rather that amount in the coffers of government are actually low, then he's going to

have a hard time tackling issues like lack of payment of wages, supply electricity, also the fight against several other ills nigeria is struggling with. but people here believe he has the capacity. as a strict disciplinarian he will bring some sanity into how the government is conducting their affairs, and they are hopeful he can deliver on all of his promises at least most of them. but how soon he can deliver is what people are waiting to see. >> thank you for that. this news just in the u.s. state department has announced that it no longer regards cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. let's go live to patty culhane in washington, d.c. talk us through what this means and how it happened patty. >> reporter: this was pretty much expected to happen today, jane but it is now official.

john kerry is taking cuba off of the state sponsor of terrorism list. the president said he wanted to do this. he had the state department review it. they said it is time to take them off of the list. now the law says that he has to give them 45 days to try to reject the move. congress didn't thanks in large mart to the fact that the chamber of commerce has been pushing the congress to in fact do this able to overcome any complaints from congress so then after the 45-day window expired today, he was ability to make this announcement. so what does this do? if you are on the list and there are only a handful of countries that are, you cannot get u.s. foreign assistance you can't have defense articles exported to you. and dual use items things that can be used in weapons or anywhere else you cannot export those to those countries. that has had a huge impact on

cuba. and there are other economic sanctions that will stay on cuba. but it will probably help the process that the countries have been negotiating, trying to reestablish diplomatic relations, they didn't think it could take this long to work out a deal but they are still negotiating. >> what do you think is going to happen next? and what are the repercussions likely to be? >> i think you'll see american businesses try to flood into cuba. you will see them trying to get in on the ground floor on that. once they have established dip attic relationship you'll see these intersections as you call them turn into full-blown embassies, you'll see many cubans here in washington, d.c. and around the country. right now the sticking point seems to be how far u.s. diplomats can travel. do they have to notify cuban officials of who they are

meeting with? obviously a big concern for the cuban government that the u.s. will try to ferment unrest in their country. so they are trying to work out travel restrictions both countries will have. >> patty culhane, thank you. the islamic state of iraq and the levant says it is responsible for a bombing at a shia mosque in saudi arabia. it happened in an eastern city during friday prayers a man wearing women's clothes is said to have blown himself up at the mosque's gate. last friday suicide bomber killed at least 21 people. myanmar's navy has seized a boat packed with 727 people off of the southern coast. it comes a week off it found a similar boat carrying around 200

migrants. myanmar described those on board as bengalis. they deny citizenship to the minority rohingya and say they are illegal migrants from bangladesh. they get on boats in bangladesh falling into the hands of human traffickers who demand a steep price for passage. once they reach southern thailand they are typically held for ransom before being transferred to malaysia. the traffickers began abandoning the rohingya at sea due to a crackdown. representatives from several nations are attending a conference to tackle the growing crisis. >> reporter: thailand planned this meeting weeks ago after the migrant boats were discovered adrift packed with migrants many are still out there.

nations directly involved and indirectly like the u.s. came together to better coordinate the crisis at sea. regional governments agreed to set up an anti trafficking task force. but there was disagreement on the root problems behind the mass migration. myanmar accused the u.n. of inaccurately placing blame. >> finger pointing will not solve any problems. >> a legal status for all. >> reporter: but the u.n.'s refugee agency says it is focused on stemming the illegal and deadly flow of people for the long term. >> we're not in the business of finger pointing at all. we're looking at this situation comprehensively, and that includes looking at the root causes. >> reporter: the meeting gave nations who have criticized the actions of regional players a chance to participate. >> people who have expressed

concern, this is an opportunity to -- to really help in -- in finding a solution. >> reporter: the u.s. and australia together donated over $6 million to help with the crisis. so the agreement at the end of the day was focused on saving those in danger. but the more difficult task that had no resolution coming out of the meeting, and that is how to improve people's lives so they are not willing to put themselves in danger in the first place. the trade in people has affected the entire region. our correspondent visited one village in bangladesh that was a safe haven for traffickers until the recent police crackdown. >> reporter: from the mountains of myanmar it's a short hop across the river to the boats of bangladesh. for years now, tens of thousands of rohingya have been crossing the border and setting sail for malaysia. not anymore. with world attention on boats

packed with migrants off of the coasts of malaysia and thailand the bangladesh government has acted to try to put an end to people smuggling. three alleged trafficking kingpins were shot dead earlier this month. one of them was this man. we went to visit his home. it is inside a large fenced compound surrounded by the homes of his associates. his third wife says she has six young children. his first wife is paralyzed and can't speak. unlike most homes here his house is made of brick and the walls are painted, but his family and associates say he was a poor man who wasn't involved in anything illegal. >> translator: the officers came and dragged my husband from our house and shot him. my husband didn't do anything wrong. he was just a poor hard-working man. >> reporter: the police say the traffickers were killed when they accidentally shot

themselves when trying to escape. their deaths have had a dramatic effect on the community. villagers say almost half of the men here worked in the trafficking business. many are now in hiding. >> translator: the whole society changed ordinary people couldn't afford fish in the market anymore, because the traffickers had so much money to spending and they would intimidate everyone. >> reporter: this here is where the road to shop breaks down. you need to get off of your vehicle, walk over to the area over there, which will then take you to the village. we're told that these were involved in transporting the would-be migrants to the boats. the drivers deny that's the case. with increased vigilance by security forces trafficking here appears to have come to a halt. that may not remain the case once the spotlight has moved on.

much more to come on al jazeera. hospitals in india are struggling to treat victims of a heat wave that has claimed more than 1700 lives in just over a week. i'm catherine soi in western kenya where these grannies who are just starting their formal education. i'll be telling you why. ♪ and in sport, the football leaders of israel and palestine shake hands as politics is put on fifa's agenda. ♪

>> "compass" will challenge the way you look at the world. talking about big subjects. telling human stories.

>> there's a tidal wave. >> we all have a problem. >> could you have seen that coming? hello again, let's take a look at the headlines. fifa's 209 members are voting now in a presidential ballot. you are looking at live picture coming to us from zurich with president september facing a challenge from prince ali of jordan. he has vowed to lead football's

governing body out of the storm if he is reelected. the u.s. has taken cuba off of the state sponsorer of terrorism. nigeria's new president says his government will intensify the fight against the armed group boko haram. he has been speaking after being sworn into office. the islamic state of iraq and the levant have claimed responsibility for two bombings in the iraqi capitol, baghdad. the attacks were on two heavily fortified five-star hotels. anymore details about what has been going on imron? >> reporter: when we can tell you according to police the

death toll has now risen to 15 people, and many more injured. what is concerning is the idea that isil can operate in central baghdad. this has had a devastating effect [ inaudible ] but normally on the outskirts. an attack in the center of baghdad is quite rare. the national security advisor has said [ inaudible ] tactics be able to evade check points where there are a number of in baghdad, and also [ inaudible ] that there's a real concern here in baghdad, in the capitol that isil will strike more -- they will use car bombs more and find ways to' evade security. these are direct revenge attacks for the fact that they are now at war in anbar province.

so there are likely to be more [ inaudible ] attacks against five-star targets against targets that normally are thought be very very concerned. so there is a real concern in baghdad that we will see a spike of these attacks in the future. in syria fighting is continuing on several battle fronts. as our correspondent reports all of the confusion means it's not clear who if anyone might emerge victorious. >> reporter: another gain for syrian rebels in northern idlib province these are a coalition of rebels which includes al-nusra front fighters allied to al-qaeda and they now control the town. it is thought to be the last major strong hold for the regime in the entire province. [ gunfire ] >> translator: thank god we

liberated the town in just few hours. i swear than ran like rats. >> reporter: after days of ongoing battles regime soldiers have left. the state's news agency says government forces have pulled out, to the outskirts to regroup, but the families inside are fleeing. >> translator: some people are scared that the regime will destroy the town using barrel bombs. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: rebels have also moved on to the village here in the western countryside, killing a number of government soldiers. days earlier rebels captured a town and last month they took control of idlib city the province capitol. the next major battle could be president bashar al-assad's strong hold on the coast. in syria's palmyra, the islamic state of iraq and the levant is widening its control. these photos show a glimpse of

one of syria's notorious prisons. inmates were moved by government forces before they fled. further south a war of attrition is taking place. fighting is not over in the mountain range. hezbollah has announced it made big gains in the area on the border with lebanon two weeks ago. but with fighters carrying out hit and run attacks more than 40 hezbollah fighter are said to have been killed since fighting began earlier this month. this is where both sides get weapons and reinforcements. fighting in syria's multiple battle fronts continue to intensify, too many warring factions with different agendas are battling themselves and government forces. it's not clear who will wynn

-- win the final battle. the u.n. security council has been briefed about the syrian syrian chlorine gas bombs. >> you have to assess whether going to war with the assad regime is likely to bring about the results that you seek. it's an extremely complicated enterprise, and it's one ultimately that if the assad regime tests it would entail shooting its plains out of the sky, so i think sometimes people refer to a no fly zorn-- zone as a soft side option when it is a very complicated enterprise. back in the 1930s, the u.s. was languishing in the middle of

the great depression. despite that construction began on the first of four huge dams on the columbia river in the pacific northwest. native american communities were pushed aside to make way for them. as rob reynolds reports mr. native american families have been left in squaller. >> reporter: in the 1930s, the u.s. government began building huge dams on the columbia river. >> out of steel and concrete their welt their answer to the river's fury. >> reporter: the dams generated electricity for industry and made the river navigatable for ships. but they also drowned villages where native people had lived and fished for thousands of years. said some of those people live in squaller settlements. >> the luxuries of having a house with plumbing and stuff in

it i really don't know what that is. >> reporter: gabriel has lived on cooks landing for 45 years. it has one toilet and shower facility for about 40 people. >> you try as much as you can and you can never keep it clean. but that's all it is. it got a shower over there that don't work. >> reporter: about 500 native people live on sites designated for access to fishing as part of treaties. these deplorable housing conditions for the native americans along the columbia river are not sign of the dam's enduring human impact. paul is head of the columbia intertribal fishing commission. >> with all of these dams that were created, all of this incredible wealth that everyone is getting but these people here don't have that. you wouldn't think that here in the united states of america, that you have these kind of third-world living conditions

but it is here. the government knows about it and they won't do anything about it. >> the u.s. army corps of everythings build the dams but they have no plans to build new homes. it's waiting for congress to fund more studies. >> the next step would be another study, so the fact finding is to determine whether or not a study is needed. >> reporter: the dowel's dam generates thousands of megawattsover electricity every day, but this trailer has only a wood stove to ward off the winter cold. >> look at what they have done to our land and our country. every dam like this ruined another native american's life or family and that's a true written fact. >> reporter: dams brought prosperity to the pacific northwest but only misery to this land's original

inhabitants. hospitals in india are being urged to give emergency treatment to people suffering from heat stroke. over 1800 people have died so far because of the extreme temperatures. our correspondent had the latest from new delhi. >> reporter: millions of indians have been struggling to live and work in sweltering conditions with temperatures reaching over 45 degrees celsius in some parts of the country. the worst affected states have been in the south. the unprecedented heat wave has killed more than 1300 people in one state alone, there are concerns on the ground in worst affected areas that limited medical and water resources are being stretched to the limit at the moment. here in the capitol as well there are growing concerns on part of doctors and health experts that the high temperatures that delhi is

experiencing along with the dust is trapping dangerous toxins in the air. it may be sometime yet before the worst-affected areas of india see an improvement in the forecast. ten people are confirmed of having the middle east respiratory disease. they are not recommending screens of passengers or imposing a travel ban. chinese authorities have destroyed nearly 600 tons of ivory. illegal trade continues to threaten elephant populations across africa. to kenya now where grandmothers in a village in the rest of the country are going

back to school. many have been looking after children who's parents have died of hiv aids and much like the children they too are keen to learn how to read and write. catherine soi reports. >> reporter: vowels are today's lesson at this village cinder eager ten in western kenya. these children are orphans most of their parents have died from hiv eyeds. a few classrooms away is a special group of students. grand mothers who have been live behind to take care of the orphans. they may be old and frail with wisdom that can never be taught in a classroom. but they decided to get back to class and study arithmetic writing and reading. this is the oldest of the lot at 96 proudly shows me her work. she can write to ten. >> translator: being in class is very tiresome, but i have to

keep coming to get smart and see how can i help my grandchildren. >> reporter: the volunteer teacher livens it up with music. here they sing about the importance of education. >> most of them know the benefits of education. so they would urge their children to go to school to learn. >> reporter: after class some of the ladies slowly make their way home to wait for their grandchildren who are still in school. this is where celine lives with her six grandchildren. she is now able to at least monitor their progress at school. so she is ready for them when they return. their parents died seven years ago, and she is the sole provider. >> translator: what pains me most is the fact that they rely on me but i am growing old and i'm not able to take care of them as well as i would like to.

>> reporter: but she and the other widows operate a small business together. here hands that have weakened after decades of hard work still have the energy to prepare small rolls of dough for baking. they are making pastry which they will sell and share the profits. it's not much but they tell us it's enough to get by. robin is just ahead with all of the sport. we'll get the latest from zurich where boating is taking place right now. will it be sepp blatter or prince ali as president?

♪ the united nations wants to give millions of low-income families free access to internet in an effort to close the so-called digital divide. experts say it's a recognition that internet access is now a right. >> reporter: this library in miami provides free online browsing for everything from job pages to educational and music programs. >> that's really cool. >> reporter: and parents who came to get their kids online it's a great service. >> it's a really nice library, and we enjoy coming. >> reporter: it's that kind of service that the u.s. government wants to get into people's

homes. it's a program called lifeline that helps families pay their phone l bills and get them online. the digital divide is a difference between being information rich and information poor. 5 million households in the u.s. with without broadband, and they tend to be black and hispanic families. >> if you are not connected, you really run the risk of being marginalized. not only are you left out of the competitive opportunities, the job opportunities, but your children in particular are behind other children of their age. >> reporter: but critics say the program is wasteful expensive and could harm the people it aims to help. >> the program is full of waste, fraud, and abuse, and unless we

return to making sure people have skin in the game that is just going to continue. there will be higher broadband taxes for everybody else including people who are not quite poor enough to get the subsidy, and there will be less subsidies for those who really need it. >> reporter: it's likely the new plan will cause fierce debate few doubt that k assess to the internet is increasingly essential. time for sport news again. >> reporter: voting is underway to determine the president of fifa. the 209 member states are casting their votes. sepp blatter running for a fifth term describe the arrest of seven top officials in a corruption scandal.

>> i will fight to for every promise i have made. and i urge you to fight alongside me for our future. for the sole of our game and for a new dawn for fifa. for the 209 delegates here you are the ones who hold the story of how fifa unfolds. >> translator: i wish to stay among you. i wish to play this role. i would like to continue with you. this is a matter of trust, confidence from you. to me it is a matter of respect towards each and every of you. you representatives of football federations everywhere i am at your disposal. if you wish me to continue this journey with you, i extend all

thanks to you. >> that was sepp blatter a little earlier. voting undergoing right now. live pictures from zurich there are 209 member associations vote voting voting. just to put in to context how the voting works, for sepp blatter to retain his presidency seat he needs to obtain at least 139 of the 209 member votes. that's two-third's majority otherwise it goes to a second round, whoever gets the most votes there actually wins the presidential race. of course we're going to get live -- as i said live pictures from zurich at the moment. the voting taking place. it's expected to take about an hour hour and a half. so it's a fairly lengthy process undergoing in zurich right now. sepp blatter has been at the help since 1998. the only other challenger

prince ali from jordan. jack worner has accused the united states of a witch hunt. the 72 year old left trinidad by ambulance on thursday complaining of exhaustion. he had been granted bail. hours later he was photographed dancing at a political rally in trinidad. prosecutors say warners solicited brides from the south african government to host the 2010 world cup. >> the country that bid for the world cup and failed a america. they are the ones who are angry, and [ inaudible ] witch hunt so to speak. you are going to see a link that america believes that they have some divine right to get the

world cup, they don't believe that the country like qatar, a small country, a muslim country has the right to a world cup. >> they continue the investigation into possible corruption. this week's scandal has reignited anger over the way last year's world cup was financially managed. >> reporter: for many in brazil this is an example of everything that was wrong with the 2014 fifa world cup. it cost $600 million to build, twice as much as originally planned and after hosting less than handful of matches during last year's world cup, it has never been filled again. today it serves mainly as a parking lot for these buses. after seeing cases of mismanagement in stadiums all around the country, to many the signs of wrongdoing during last

year's world cup were glaring. >> translator: the brazilians have never trusted fifa. some of us already suspected corruption was rampant. for others it was a surprise at the reach of the corruption scheme. >> reporter: indignation was such that thousands took to the streets in 2013 to protest what they thought were misused resources for a country where millions live on so little. >> translator: all of these stadiums are unnecessary. here we have no football culture. >> reporter: brazil has no professional team. these days there is very little football being played at the world's second-most expensive stadium, in fact it mostly stays empty. and last year this stadium even played host to mass wedding.

>> translator: there is no doubt that the government works to avoid our investigation related to the world cup last year. it's all connected to the corruption scheme in fifa, and the brazilian football confederation. >> reporter: building stadiums like this was meant to demonstrate to the world that brazil was now a major economic power, instead critics say it might stand as a symbol of corruption and squadered resources. that's just one story dominating world sports headlines. the fifa presidential elections going on live now. andy richardson is in zurich for us and give us the latest on what is happening there. >> reporter: it's a rather surreal process. there's two separate voting booths and each country is

taking their turn to put their vote on a piece of paper and pop it in a ballot box. it's very old school and it's taking a very long long time. the last time the fifa president was standing against himself. on that occasion you might remember sepp blatter saying that he was determined over his next term to root out corruption, root out wrongdoing in world football. we have just had his final keynote speech before this vote and we heard something very similar again. if he was voting in the first thing he would be doing would be to root out corruption in world football. he said i have been with you a long time i'm among you, i want to stay among you, and if you can, let me stay with you in the

next couple of hours. the voting process is pretty straightforward, but it is taking a long time. and if either candidate doesn't get the two-thirds majority they will then have to do it all again, and then a simple majority is enough. what we are hearing from the prince over the last couple of days and today, is that he is confident he has enough to take this to a second round. he said he thought he could get up to 60 votes outside of europe. i think that is ambitious. if he has got around 80 votes that would at least take into it a second round for him. >> there was another important issue taking center stage a little earlier, just bring us up to speed on what happened there. >> that's right. palestine were -- had been intending to ask for a vote to

have israel suspended from world football. they have a number of complaints against israel crucially the fact that their players have travel restrictions placed on them. they can't travel across gaza and the occupied west bank to training matches or matches. but instead there will be a committee to discuss how things can be improved for palestinian footballers. there were concerns if this vote went ahead other countries with political disputes might also take their argument into the world of football. >> andy thank you very much for that. and the live voting continues right now. expect it to take an hour hour and a half. probably another 20 minutes or so left. because they seem to be going through alphabetical order. we'll bring you up to speed on where that vote pans out. >> i expect it will probably

break in london's broadcast. we'll hand it over to them. thanks for watching. ♪

fifa members vote on blatter's presidency bid amid the biggest corruption scandal in the history of world football. ♪ i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up the u.s. formal i will removes cuba from its list of countries that sponsor terrorism. a former military ruler is sworn in as president of nigeria. and the u.n. stops short of