The legitimacy of the former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur star's bid was a main cause for concern at his launch ceremony in London earlier today, especially with the PR Stunt savvy bookmakers as his backer.

The 47-year-old will need to prove that he has played an "active role" in football for two of the past five years to be eligible, while also gaining the support of five Football Associations.

These criteria will need to be met by FIFA's January 29 deadline.

Paddy Power admitted that it was their idea to back a challenger to incumbent Sepp Blatter, who is running for a fifth term at the helm of football's world governing body, and are paying Ginola £250,000 ($327,000/€380,000) to run against the Swiss administrator.

Ginola, who won 17 caps for France and was considered marketable in his playing days as much for his appearance as for his ability, is campaigning under a manifesto of democracy, transparency and equality.

He, and partners Paddy Power and Change FIFA, have called on the public to help raise £2.3 million ($3.5 million/€3 million) to fund his campaign, claiming that to join Team Ginola is to "say yes to a FIFA that cares about one thing: football".



"I do believe that I can stand in front of you and say that I can be the next President because I want to share my ideas, my view of the game," said Ginola.

"I want a fair game.

"Three things are very important: transparency, democracy, and equality.

"That's the main thing I want to achieve.

"The first thing is to get the five associations.

"That will be the main task in the next few days.

"It's not an easy thing, I realise that.

"It is a proper job.

"It is probably the hardest job of my entire life.

"Being a footballer is an easy task, compared to what I'm doing right now."

Ginola joins fellow Frenchman Jérôme Champagne and Jordanian FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein in race for FIFA Presidency, alongside incumbent Blatter.

The deadline for nominations is January 29, with Chilean Harold Mayne-Nicholls also said to be considering a bid.

The vote will then take place in Zurich on May 29.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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