Football: Chung enters race to replace Blatter as president of Fifa

Former Fifa Vice President Chung Mong-joon speaking to reporters at the Incheon International Airport on July 23, 2015. PHOTO: EPA

SEOUL (Reuters) - Former Fifa vice-president Chung Mong-joon, one of the most influential figures in Asian soccer, said on Thursday he is joining the contest to replace Sepp Blatter as president of football's world governing body.

The 63-year-old billionaire scion of South Korea's Hyundai industrial conglomerate said he would make a formal announcement next month in Europe.

"I am going to stand as a candidate for the Fifa presidency," he said, acknowledging he had a tough fight ahead of him.

"It's not easy but people don't want to be part of corruption. They want to be part of the solution. We cannot leave Fifa in this kind of disgrace."

Chung said he did not yet have the required backing of five Fifa federations that would allow him to stand but was confident of getting that required support.

Uefa chief Michel Platini, 60, appears to be the strong favourite to succeed Blatter, with four of the six Fifa confederations reportedly backing him.

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