UEFA president Michel Platini on Wednesday confirmed his intention to run for the FIFA presidency as successor to Joseph Blatter.
Platini said in a statement on the UEFA website he has written to the 209 members of FIFA declaring his candidacy and asking for support in his bid to lead the global football governing body.
"This was a very personal, carefully considered decision, one in which I weighed up the future of football alongside my own future," Platini said. "I was also guided by the esteem, support and encouragement that many of you have shown me.
"There are times in life when you have to take your destiny into your own hands. I am at one of those decisive moments, at a juncture in my life and in events that are shaping the future of FIFA."
Platini, 60, has been UEFA president since 2007 and a member of the FIFA executive committee since 2002, but declined to challenge Blatter for the FIFA presidency at a congress in Zurich on May 29.
Blatter offered to lay down his mandate just four days later as American and Swiss authorities investigated FIFA corruption and made arrests of several current or former FIFA functionaries.
The next FIFA president is to be elected at an extraordinary congress in Zurich on February 26, 2016. Candidates must declare their intention to standby October 26 this year.
