Ali steps into ring with Blatter

The current Fifa vice president says he wants to restore the image of the organisation by challenging for the top job

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan has announced he will challenge Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency.

The Fifa vice president is regarded as a genuine reformer and his announcement is set to spark hopes that football governance could be overhauled.

The president of the Jordan Football Association believes it is time for football's headlines to be exclusively focused on what happens on the pitch by cleaning up Fifa's image off it.

Fifa's reputation has been severely tarnished since they awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar and the subsequent controversy surrounding the Michael Garcia report into allegations of corruption.

"I am seeking the presidency of Fifa because I believe it is time to shift the focus away from administrative controversy and back to sport," an official statement from Al Hussein reads.

"This wasn't an easy decision. It came after careful consideration and many discussions with respected Fifa colleagues over the last few months.

"The world's game deserves a world-class governing body — a service organisation and a model of ethics, transparency and good governance.

"The headlines should be about football, the beautiful sport, not about Fifa.

"Fifa exists to serve a sport which unites billions of people from all over the world, people of differing and divergent political, religious and social affiliations, who come together in their enjoyment of 'the world's game."

World football's governing body is set to hold their next presidential election at the 65th Fifa Congress in Zurich at the end of May.