16th January, 2015
Former France international David Ginola announced Friday he will seek to challenge Sepp Blatter for the presidency of FIFA saying it is time football’s global governing body was “refreshed”.
“I am standing for FIFA president and I need you on my team,” Ginola said on his Twitter account.
“It is time that football was refreshed,” Ginola added as he confirmed the bid at a London press conference. “We have to be brave and deal with what is going on in this game we love.”
“I know it will not be easy for me to be elected but I have to try. I always did my best on the pitch and I will do the same now,” he told The Sun tabloid.
A British bookmaker is sponsoring the ex-Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris St Germain winger in the most unusual of the three announced challengers to Blatter, the strong favourite to win the May 29 election.
And there are doubts whether Ginola, 47, will even get into the contest. Candidates must have played an active role in football administration for two of the past five years and be nominated by five member associations — something many pundits feel Ginola has little chance of achieving.
However, Ginola — in an attempt to mobilise public support — invited fans and other groups to join ‘Team Ginola’, with his campaign already having the backing of pressure group ChangeFIFA.
“I’m standing because like you, I love football said Ginola in a video posted on the teamginola.com website:
“Whether you are on the terraces or on the pitch we all know that the FIFA system isn’t working,” he added.
“The game needs to change, but I can’t change it on my own. I need you to stand up and change it with me.
“By joining Team Ginola you are saying ‘yes’ to a FIFA built on democracy, transparency and equality. You are saying ‘yes’ to a FIFA which cares about one thing — football.”
– Model candidate –
Ginola follows fellow Frenchman Jerome Champagne, a former FIFA official, and Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, a FIFA vice-president into the election fray.
Potential candidates have until January 29 to put their names forward. The FIFA Congress with the election will be held in Zurich in May.
Blatter, 78, who has been at the top of FIFA since 1998 is widely expected to secure a fifth successive term in office.
After moving to England from Paris St Germain in 1995, Ginola played for several Premier League clubs.
Renowned for his model good looks and flowing hair, as much as his football skill, Ginola — capped 17 times by France — was named England’s Footballer of the Year in 1999, the same year he helped Spurs win the League Cup.
Since retiring as a player, Ginola has worked as an actor and model but has retained an interest in football as a television pundit and through involvement with clubs in Asia and France.
He also campaigned for England’s unsuccessful bid to stage the 2018 World Cup, which attracted a mere two votes in the 2010 ballot of FIFA members.
FIFA has been mired in coruption claims relating to the bidding for hosting the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, set to take take place in Russia and Qatar respectively.
US lawyer Michael Garcia, asked by FIFA to look into the bidding procedures for both tournaments, dramatically quit as the organisation’s ethics investigator last month
He resigned after losing an appeal challenging findings by FIFA chiefs that cleared Russia and Qatar to host the next two World Cups.