Figo, Luís Figo- Hat in the Ring

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Luis Figo has announced his intention to stand against Sepp Blatter for the presidency of Fifa in May. The Portugal legend said he was concerned that the organization is "associated with the word 'scandal' in an interview with CNN.

Figo, 42, joins Jerome Champagne, Dutch FA chief Michael van Praag and former France international David Ginola in challenging the Swiss, who has been in office for the past 17 years. "I am worried for football and the image of Fifa," Figo said." If you search Fifa on the internet, you see the first word that comes out: 'scandal.' Not positive words. It's that we have to change first and try to improve the image of Fifa. Football deserves much better than this.

"I've been talking with important people in football -- players, managers, presidents of federations -- and they all think that something has to be done. Last year was the World Cup, I was in Brazil and I saw the reaction of all the fans regarding the image of Fifa and I think something has to be changed," said the 2000 Ballon d'Or winner.

Figo also referred to the García report into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively. "After the García report was not published I think the moment has come for change. It was at that moment that I thought something has to be done. If you are transparent and you have nothing to hide, why was this report not published? Publishing it was the logical thing to do if everybody has doubts over what happened. If Fifa requested the report and then didn't publish it, it wasn't a good decision."

Blatter, 78, has said that if elected again in May this will be his last tenure. The Swiss has received the support of the West Asian Football Federation, despite the candidacy of its current president and Fifa vice president Prince Ali of Jordan.

"Blatter has been at Fifa for many years, since 1998, and the other candidates may be considered favourites but for me this is a great challenge," Figo stated. "There are many examples in football. You can play the strongest team or the weakest team and you never know who is going to win."

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