LONDON (Reuters) - Fifa presidential candidate Jerome Champagne does not yet have the letters of support he needs from five football associations with the deadline for his nomination to be accepted only 10 days away, the Frenchman said on Monday.

The 56-year-old former Fifa deputy secretary-general, who opened his campaign in London a year ago this week, has sent an open letter to the heads of Fifa's 209 member associations appealing for their support before the Jan 29 deadline.

"I do not yet have all the five letters," he wrote in a statement headed The Moment of Truth.

"The feeling exists that the final result of the election is set, and that it would be risky to sign them. There is also the fear of being singled out or punished," he said.

That was a nod to the idea that most people believe, despite all the controversies surrounding Fifa, that ageing incumbent Sepp Blatter will win a fifth term of office.