Brazil legend Zico to stand for FIFA presidency

Former Brazil star Zico on Wednesday confirmed he will stand in the election to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of FIFA, although he admitted he may struggle to find enough support.
 
"I would like to confirm the decision to be a candidate," the 62-year-old told a news conference.
 
"I feel I am capable. For sure, certain rules need to change," not least the constant "horse-trading" necessitated by the need to gather the support of at least five federations.
 
"That need to have five federations behind you, I think that is where the corruption starts" as favours are offered, asked for or called in, Zico said.
 
"Much needs to change and much is going to happen"  

He pointed out he had come to the conclusion he ought to make a formal bid to stand after talking with former Portugal star Figo, who briefly expressed his own desire to stand for the post before pulling out last month.
 
"I was asked if I had talked with Figo about his being a candidate for FIFA. I said I had and that set me thinking."  

Blatter has already announced he will stand down from the job after the organisation he has headed since 1998 was engulfed in a series of corruption allegations.
 
Zico, who has experience of the game at managerial level having notably coached Japan, said he believed the game had to undergo wide-ranging reforms.
 
But he added he believed it was right that Blatter be allowed to stay in place prior to a vote on a successor due to be elected between December and March.
 
"This will allow him to make an orderly handover," Zico told reporters in Rio.
 
Zico, nicknamed the "White Pele" during a playing career which never yielded a World Cup triumph, joked that...