Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Sepp Blatter is expected to have a significant challenger from outside Europe in next year’s Fifa presidential election – but the Fifa vice-president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein has yet to decide whether to stand.

Prince Ali’s office responded to reports that he is to stand against Blatter by telling Inside World Football that the Jordanian “has not confirmed or denied” whether he will do so.

His brother, the International Olympic Committee member Prince Feisal al-Hussein, said on Wednesday he was not aware of any such plan, saying: “I am not aware of anything at all. He has never mentioned that to me, it has never come up.”

Uefa’s president Michel Platini is expected to back a challenger from outside Europe after saying he would not support Blatter for a fifth term in office.

The only declared candidate so far is the former Fifa deputy general secretary Jérôme Champagne, from France, though he needs five countries to nominate him, and Uefa is not backing him.

Nominations have to be made before 31 January and it is likely that the controversy over the Garcia report into bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will still not be resolved before that deadline.

*The Guardian