FIFA Alert: Champagne to challenge Blatter for Fifa presidency

The Frenchman has set his sights on the position of Fifa president after leaving world football's governing body in 2010

Former deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne has announced that he will challenge Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency at the 2015 election.

The 55-year-old Champagne joined world football's governing body in 1999 and worked closely with Blatter during his time as deputy general secretary between 2002 and 2005 before eventually leaving Fifa in 2010 and becoming an international football consultant

The Frenchman has now set his sights on a comeback, though, as he has confirmed that he will run for the position of Fifa president.
"In 11 years with Fifa I was fortunate to be close to many brilliant things that happened," he told reporters in London at the unveiling of his campaign entitled 'Hope for Football'.
"If we want to keep football universal, we need a different Fifa; a Fifa which can do more.
"We will continue what has been done well in the last 40 years, but it can only be done if Fifa is relevant to the new world."

Current chief Blatter has been in charge of Fifa ever since replacing Joao Havelange at the helm in 1998.

The 77-year-old was previously believed to be ready to call it quits at the end of his fourth term in 2015, but recent reports have suggested that he could run for a fifth spell after all.