Van Praag, President of the KNVB, is a former chairman of Ajax and a member of UEFA's Executive Committee.

It is claimed he has the required backing of five member associations to run in the election, scheduled to take place at the FIFA Congress in Zurich on May 29.

During the FIFA Congress in São Paulo in June of last year, Blatter was criticised by a number of leading European football officials in a fiery session, with van Praag telling him "you should not run anymore".

"It is well known that I am very worried about FIFA," said van Praag.

"It is high time that the organisation comes back into the real world,

"I had hoped that a credible opponent would emerge, but that's simply not happened.

"In that case you cannot just talk but you must also act decisively and take responsibility so there therefore I am announcing my candidacy."

Sepp Blatter had claimed UEFA did not have the "courage" to challenge him in this year's FIFA Presidential election but will now face Dutchman Michael van Praag ©Getty Images



Blatter, President since 1998, is vying for a fifth term at the head of world football's governing body and now faces competition on four fronts with van Praag joining France's former FIFA Executive Jérôme Champagne, Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein and former French international footballer David Ginola in the race.

Ginola's campaign looks to be in serious jeopardy however, after it emerged that he faces charges for breaching Article 25 of FIFA's Code of Ethics for his links to gambling, should he become an official candidate before the deadline on Thursday (January 29).

Bookmaker Paddy Power agreed to pay Ginola £250,000 ($327,000/€380,000) over five months to run against Blatter, after admitting that it was their idea to back a challenger to the Swiss administrator, but they have since said that they "will not be contributing financially" beyond tomorrow.

Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the administrator who led the FIFA Inspection Group that evaluated the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, is another potential candidate and is expected to announce whether he has the backing of the necessary number of member associations in the coming days, along with Champagne.

UEFA President Michel Platini ruled himself out of the race in August, claiming he wanted to remain at the helm of European football's governing body.

It has long been believed that UEFA had been exploring the possibility of putting forward either van Praag or German FA President Wolfgang Niersbach as an alternative.

Blatter has revealed to CNN that the list of qualified candidates for the election will be made public on February 7 or 8.

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