(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
Three challengers are to take on Sepp Blatter for the presidency of football's world governing body, FIFA, in May.
Former Portugal forward Luis Figo, the president of the Royal Dutch Football Association, Michael Van Praag and Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan are all vying for the top job.
Greg Dyett reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
Sepp Blatter is standing for a fifth term as FIFA president.
The 78-year-old told SBS he was asked to run again.
"I was asked by the Confederations, at least five of the six confederations in the last congress in Sao Paulo please president go on with us to finalise what you have started. You have started the reorganisation and the reform in FIFA, now bring it to an end and be our president, that's why I said I will go on with my mission and to now I have announced also my candidature and we will see if this candidature has been accepted or not."
Blatter told SBS he's the best person to restore trust in FIFA.
"I'm sure that if these reform processes which we started and I said it has to be finished now, it has to be implemented and this will give them trust and confidence again in the FIFA and it's not only the perception you have in the world of the media. You have to go and see what has happened, what is happening in the world of football."
Former Portugal international Luis Figo says FIFA has lost credibility in recent years and that's one reason why he's standing for the presidency.
(Translated) "I owe what I am to football and I feel that it is the time to repay what I have received for so many years, so I decided to run for the FIFA presidency. It was a considered decision based on the will for change with a vision to reform, where I see the need for more transparency in an institution that is losing credibility and its capacity to mobilise. I look at FIFA's reputation at this moment and I don't like what I see, football deserves better. In recent weeks, months and even years I have watched an accentuated degradation of the organisation's image and I feel it's time to invert this reality."
Frenchman Jerome Champagne also called for reform of FIFA before withdrawing his candidacy after failing to win enough support.
"We need a different FIFA. We need a FIFA which is more democratic, a FIFA which is more respected, a FIFA which behaves better, but also a FIFA which do more, which can do more."
The President of the Royal Dutch Football Association, Michael Van Praag says if he gets the job he would hold on to the good things FIFA has achieved but would do things differently from Sepp Blatter.
He says one key difference is a commitment to doing the job for no more than one term.
"I only want to hold the presidency for a single term of four years. A single term of four years. This is because I want to make room for a new generation as quickly as possible."
Sepp Blatter is expected to retain the presidency when the election takes place in Zurich in May.
Analysts predict he'll get most of the votes from Asia, Africa and South America.
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