Head of European football governing body Uefa, Michel Platini, is expected to announce his intentions to stand for the presidency of Fifa in coming days.
Sources close to the former France international and ex-Juve midfielder say the 60-year-old could announce before the end of the week.
In June, Sepp Blatter announced he will stand down as Fifa president at a special congress scheduled for 26 February in Zurich.
All intending candidates have from now until 26 October to confirm their interests.
Head of Liberia FA, Musa Bility, has already declared his candidacy, while South Korea’s Chung Ming-joon- a former Fifa vice-president- is expected to run for the position. Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, who was beaten by Blatter in May’s congress, is also likely to confirm his candidacy.
Blatter has occupied football’s highest position since 1998 and was re-elected for a fifth term on 29 May, but announced his departure four days later in the wake of the biggest scandal In the history of world football.
Seven high-ranking football officials were arrested at at a five-star hotel in Zurich as part of a U.S. investigation into allegations of fraud in world football. Two other ex-Fifa executives were also indicted in the U.S. investigation.
A separate probe of Fifa’s decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments to Russia and Qatar is also ongoing.
Call for Platini-candidature picked up steam last week after four member Confederations- including Uefa- reportedly declared support for the Frenchman.
But Platini will have to address why he had to vote for a Qatar World Cup- as a Fifa executive committee member- despite Fifa’s own technical report flagging up concerns about the extreme heat in the Gulf region.
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