Van Praag withdraws from Fifa race
Fifa presidential candidate Michael van Praag has withdrawn from the election, leaving only two people rivalling the incumbent Sepp Blatter.
Van Praag, 67, who is president of the Dutch football federation, says he will support Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan in the election on 29th May.
Former Portugal midfielder Luis Figo, 42, is the third man in the election.
Blatter, 79, is expected to win a fifth presidential term and remain in charge of world football’s governing body.
Each of Fifa’s 209 member associations have a vote in the election with the Football Association intending to support Prince Ali, although the Scottish FA had previously said they would back Van Praag.
Sepp Blatter has been Fifa president since 1998
Van Praag is expected to give his reasons from withdrawing from the election at a news conference at 19:00 BST.
His withdrawal comes after another presidential candidate, Frenchman Jerome Champagne, a former Fifa deputy general secretary, pulled out in February.
Former Tottenham and Newcastle midfielder David Ginola, backed by a betting company, originally announced his intention to stand against Blatter in January, but withdrew two weeks later.
The vote will be held in Zurich at Fifa’s annual congress and requires the winning candidate to secure a two-thirds majority in the first round of voting.
If subsequent rounds are required then a simple majority is all that is required for victory.
