Ex-France winger Ginola enters FIFA presidential race

By Mike Collett

LONDON (Reuters) - Former France winger David Ginola will announce on Friday that he is entering the race to become president of world soccer's governing body FIFA, The Sun reported on Thursday.

But the ex-Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur player has no chance of winning the election and is unlikely to get the required number of nominations to officially enter the race.

Ginola, who turns 48 later this month, will become the third candidate to announce he is standing after fellow Frenchman Jerome Champagne and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, according to The Sun newspaper's website (www.thesun.co.uk).

“It is time that football was refreshed," the newspaper quoted him as saying. "We have to be brave and deal with what is going on in this game we love.

"I’m not interested in dwelling on the sins of the past, this is about taking football forward and putting supporters at the centre of the game.

"Football belongs to the people and they deserve to have a voice. We want transparency so that everyone knows where every penny goes.

"People need to be able to trust the decisions being made by those in charge."

Swiss incumbent Sepp Blatter, who is odds-on favourite to secure a fifth election victory, will make his formal announcement to run again in the next two weeks.

Ginola will declare his intention to stand at a news conference in London on Friday, backed by a bookmaking firm and the Change FIFA organisation.

However, his campaign will only become official if he can prove he has the support of five national associations before Jan. 29, the four-month deadline before the vote at the FIFA Congress in Zurich on May 29.

Ginola played 17 times for his country in the 1990s and, after spending the first 10 years of his career in France, most notably with Paris St Germain, he moved to England in 1995 where he played for Newcastle, Spurs, Aston Villa and Everton.

Famed for his flair on the pitch as well as his flowing hair and Gallic good looks, Ginola was a fans' favourite at Newcastle and Tottenham where he won the League Cup in 1999.

Ginola, who was England's Footballer of the Year in 1999, has been active in football since retiring as a player in 2002, being involved with clubs in Asia and France.

He has also has worked as an actor and model.

(Editing by Ken Ferris/Peter Rutherford)