Rio de Janeiro: Brazil great Zico has ruled himself out of the running for the president of football's world governing body FIFA due to lack of support.
The 62-year-old told local media on Monday that he failed to receive the required backing of five national federations, Xinhua reported.
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the five letters of support that we needed," Zico said. "But I'm happy to have been able to participate in this campaign and hope that those that take on the responsibility can do it with love and passion, not thinking about putting money in their own pockets."
Eight candidates reportedly submitted the necessary documents to run for FIFA's top job before Monday's filing deadline.
They were: Swiss-born UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino, Jordan's prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, France's Jerome Champagne; Trinidad and Tobago's David Nakhid, South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale; Liberian Musa Bility and Asian confederation president Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain; suspended UEFA president Michel Platini.
They will be bidding to replace incumbent president Sepp Blatter, who announced his decision to step down in June.
Blatter, Platini and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke are currently suspended from all football activity for 90 days due to corruption allegations.
The FIFA presidential election will be held on February 26.
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