Former France international David Ginola is set to announce Friday that he wants to stand against incumbent Sepp Blatter for the presidency of FIFA, several Britishà media outletsà reported.
The ex-Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspurà playerà is expectedà to confirm his wish to challenge Blatter during a news conference in London, with bookmaker Paddy Power and Twitter-based campaign changeFIFA among his supporters.
However, doubts remain whether Ginola will in fact beà allowedà to stand given a FIFA rule requiring presidentialà candidatesto have played an active role in footballà administrationà for two of the past five years and be publicly nominated by five memberà associationsà -- something many observers feel Ginola has little chance of achieving.
Also, Paddy Power has become notorious in Britain for high-profileà publicityà stunts.
But should Ginola, 47, be serious, he is in line to become the third candidate to confirm he is standing following fellowFrenchmanà Jerome Champagne, a former FIFA executive, and Jordanàs Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, a FIFA vice-president.
Veteran Swiss administrator Blatter is set to announce in the next fortnight that he will be seeking a fifth term as FIFA president and he is widely expected to remain as theà head ofà world footballàs global governing body.
However, a spokeswoman for Ginola was quoted by the BBC as saying: "We will be looking for the full support of UEFA (European footballàs governing body) and five footballà associations."
After moving to England in 1995, Ginola -- who had made his name with Paris Saint-Germain -- played for several Premier League clubs, notably Tottenham and Newcastle, as well asà Aston Villaà and Everton.
Renowned for his model good looks and flowing hair, as much as his football skill, Ginola -- capped 17 times by France -- was named Englandàs Footballer of the Year in 1999, the same year he helped Spurs win the League Cup.
Since retiring as aà player, Ginola has worked as an actor and model but has retained an interest in football as a television pundit and through involvement with clubs in Asia and France.
He also campaigned for Englandàs unsuccessful bid to stage the 2018 World Cup, which attracted a mere two votes in the 2010 ballot of FIFA members that awarded the tournament to Russia.