Former France international David Ginola has confirmed that he would not stand up against Sepp Blatter for FIFA's presidential election in May, after failing to secure the backing of five football associations.
Anyone who is willing to stand up for FIFA's presidency has to secure the backing of five football associations, which is a basic requirement for standing in the elections for the same.
However, the former Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder failed to secure the backing, and said that he would, unfortunately, not be able to continue with his FIFA presidential candidacy, the BBC reported.
Current president Blatter is bidding for a fifth term in office.
Dutch football chief Michael van Praag and former world player of the year and Barcelona winger Luis Figo have already named their five backers. Meanwhile, the Football Association (FA) has declared its support for Asian federation member Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein.
Prince Ali has said he has the required support for the vote on 29 May.
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In order to stand for election, candidates must have also played an active role in football administration in two of the past five years.
Ginola's campaign received 2,50,000 pounds backing from a leading bookmaker.
Ginola said that he has mixed emotions, adding that there is disappointment, anger but there is also hope, insisting that he is very proud of his campaign and the policies he proposed to reform football.
