David Ginola is to announce on Friday that he wants to stand against Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency.
The former France international, who played club football in England for Tottenham, Newcastle Aston Villa and Everton, is due to make the announcement in London and that he is being backed by bookmaker Paddy Power and Twitter-based campaigner changeFIFA.
"It is time that football was refreshed," Ginola said. "We have to be brave and deal with what is going on in this game we love."
He added: "I know it will not be easy for me to be elected but I have to try. I always did my best on the pitch and I will do the same now."
However, it is uncertain whether Ginola will even be eligible to stand. He needs to have played an active role in football administration for two of the last five years and he also needs to be publicly nominated by five national associations before January 29, which may prove an impossible task.
Ginola did campaign for England's unsuccessful bid for the 2018 World Cup in 2010 which attracted only two votes.
FIFA's eligibility rules on standing for FIFA president state: "The candidate shall have played an active role in association football as a board member, committee member, referee and assistant referee, coach, trainer and any other person responsible for technical, medical or administrative matters in FIFA, a Confederation, Association, League or club or as a player) for two of the last five years before being proposed as a candidate.
"The candidate shall present declarations of support from at least five member associations."
Blatter is seeking a fifth term as president and will face opposition from Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein from Jordan, who is a FIFA vice-president.
French former FIFA executive Jerome Champagne has also declared but he conceded this week it would be easier to secure 50 votes in the secret ballot in May than the five public nominations.
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