Fifa vice-president, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, will challenge incumbent Sepp Blatter for the leadership of the world football’s governing body.
Prince Ali, who is also a member of the Fifa Executive Committee and the head of the Jordan Football Association, will stand against incumbent Sepp Blatter and Frenchman Jerome Champagne for the top job in May this year.
“I am seeking the presidency of Fifa because I believe it is time to shift the focus away from administrative controversy and back to sport,” he said in a statement.
“This was not an easy decision. It came after careful consideration and many discussions with respected Fifa colleagues over the last few months.
“The message I heard, over and over, was that it is time for a change. The world’s game deserves a world-class governing body – an International Federation that is a service organisation and a model of ethics, transparency and good governance.
“The headlines should be about football, not about Fifa,” he said.
Prince Ali, also head of the West Asian Football Federation, was one of a number of officials who called for the publication of ethics investigator, Michael Garcia’s report into allegations of corruption surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.
UEFA President, Michel Platini, is said to be “pleased” that Prince Ali has decided to enter the race and will attempt to get the Jordanian as many votes as possible in Europe.
Blatter has held his position as Fifa President since 1998 and will be running for a fifth term at the 65th Fifa congress in Zurich on May 29.
Fifa has suffered a number of damaging corruption allegations during Blatter’s 17-year reign.
Last month, former England captain Gary Lineker described the way Fifa was running world football as “a farce” after the governing body became embroiled in more allegations of World Cup bidding corruption.
The son of the late King Hussein and the late Queen Alia, who died in a helicopter crash in 1977, he attended Sandhurst military academy before joining his country’s armed forces. He is the brother-in-law of leading racehorse owner Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai. Prince Ali successfully championed the lifting of Fifa’s ban on the hijab in women’s football.
