FIFA confirm four candidates to stand for president

Soccer's governing body said in a statement that the four would be subject to integrity checks carried out by FIFA's ethics committee before they could be formally declared as candidates.

"Upon receipt of the results of the integrity checks, the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee will reconvene in order to review all of the submissions and validate their compliance with the applicable FIFA regulatory provisions," said FIFA in a statement.

"Following this process, the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee will formally admit and declare the candidates who are eligible for the office of FIFA President."

Blatter, 78, is standing for a fifth mandate, having been in power since 1998 and is widely expected to win the vote in Zurich on May 29.

He is expected to sweep up most of the votes from Asia, Africa and South America. UEFA, which has 53 of the 209 votes, has not yet publicly declared which candidate it will support.

Frenchman Jerome Champagne said earlier on Monday that he had not received backing from five national associations, as required under the rules, and would not be able to stand.