It's official!
Former Portugal star Luis Figo has announced his intentions to challenge Sepp Blatter in the FIFA presidential elections.
The 42-year-old former Barcelona and Real Madrid star joins David Ginola, Jérôme Champagne, Prince Ali of Jordan and Michael van Praag, the head of the Dutch FA, in the list of candidates.
The presidential race will be decided by a vote of the 209 Member FAs at the FIFA Congress on May 29.
Blatter, who is seeking a fifth term, remains the firm favourite for the role but now faces stiff competition.
"I care about football, so what I'm seeing regarding the image of Fifa – not only now but in the past years – I don’t like it," Figo as quoted as saying in CNN.
"I've been talking with so many important people in football – players, managers, president of federations – and they all think that something has to be done. Last year was the World Cup, I was in Brazil and I saw the reaction of all the fans regarding the image of Fifa and I think something has to be changed.
"Change in leadership, governance, transparency and solidarity, so I think it's the moment for that."
The Portuguese legend played at clubs including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan during his prolific career and won the Ballon d'Or in 2000 as well as the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2001.
Image: Luis Figo visits the IWC booth during the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) 2015 at the Palexpo in Geneva.
Photo: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images for IWC
