UEFA head Michel Platini announced on Wednesday his intention to stand for presidency of FIFA in place of Sepp Blatter.
"This was a very personal, carefully considered decision, one in which I weighed up the future of football alongside my own future," he said in a statement published on the UEFA website (www.uefa.org).
"There are times in life when you have to take your destiny into your own hands," added the former France international player.
South Korea's Chung Mong-joon, a former FIFA vice-president, is expected to announce his candidacy next month, while Jordan's Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, beaten by Blatter in May's presidential vote, is also considering running in next February's election.
The vote will be held at a special 'elective congress' in Zurich on Feb. 26.
Blatter, who has been president since 1998, was re-elected for a fifth term in May, but amidst the fall-out from the arrest of nine soccer officials, including some senior FIFA and ex-FIFA officials, he said he was "laying down" his mandate.
Platini has long been the bookmakers' favourite to succeed Blatter and last week his supporters indicated that he has picked up widespread support from leaders of the continental confederations.
A former protege of Blatter’s, Platini turned into one of his biggest critics and he has said FIFA's corruption scandal "disgusted" him and gave him "stomach trouble".
But the Frenchman's own critics will focus on his support for the 2022 World Cup to be held in Qatar.
Platini, part of the FIFA executive committee since 2002, voted for Qatar, despite FIFA's own technical report flagging up concerns about the searing heat in the Gulf state.
That may be a difficult line of attack for his two possible Asian rivals to take however, given that Qatar is part of theAsian Football Confederation.
Three outsiders have also said they intend to run - Liberian FA chairman Musa Bility, former Brazil internationalZico and ex-France winger David Ginola.
Ginola had intended to stand in May's vote but was unable to get the five nominations from football federations needed to be a candidate -- a problem Zico has conceded he will probably encounter.
The deadline for candidates to formally present their nominations, with support, is Oct. 26 and they will also have to undergo integrity checks, led by Domenico Scala, head of the ad-hoc election committee.
© 2024 Rediff.com -