Michel Platini will run to replace Sepp Blatter as president of FIFA.

Platini is currently president of UEFA.

Platini held talks with football powerbrokers at the 2018 World Cup draw in St Petersburg last weekend and is now confident he has the support necessary to win.

“This was a very personal, carefully considered decision, one in which I weighed up the future of football alongside my own future. I was also guided by the esteem, support and encouragement that many of you have shown me,” Platini said in a statement, having written to all 209 member associations of Fifa to inform them of his intentions to stand.

“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.”