FIFA needs to ‘turn a new leaf’, says Platini

Michel Platini says FIFA needs to “turn a new leaf” after confirming he will be a candidate to be the next president of football’s governing body.

The 60-year-old UEFA president has received indications of support from four continental confederations.

Polling for the election takes place on February 26, with Sepp Blatter standing down following a corruption crisis. Potential candidate Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein has said in a statement: “Platini is not good for FIFA.” Former France international Platini said when announcing his candidacy: “I weighed up the future of football alongside my own future.”

Swiss Blatter, 79, has been in charge of FIFA since 1998.

Platini said: “There are times in life when you have to take your destiny into your own hands. I am at one of those decisive moments, at a juncture in my life and in events that are shaping the future of FIFA. “During this last half-century or so, FIFA has only had two presidents.

This extreme stability is something of a paradox in a world that has experienced radical upheavals and in a sport that has undergone considerable economic change.

“However, recent events force the supreme governing body of world football to turn a new leaf and rethink its governance.”