David Ginola: Campaign to oust Fifa president Sepp Blatter left in tatters before it even gets going after press conference disaster

Ginola's clear lack of understanding at how Fifa is run could end his campaign immediately, and that's before the impact of a well-known bookmakers' is considered

David Ginola will run for Fifa presidency

David Ginola only launched his campaign to rival Fifa president Sepp Blatter at the next election this morning, but already his bid is in tatters having been dismissed as nothing more than a publicity stunt – for which he is being paid £250,000.

When news broke on Thursday night that Ginola would be rivalling the current Fifa supremo to front football’s world governing body, it turned many a head in what was undoubtedly a surprising decision. Yet come his press conference on Friday morning (once it had transpired that controversial bookmakers’ Paddy Power were behind the campaign) Ginola was left bruised and beaten by the worlds’ journalists, figuratively speaking of course.

But what irked many Twitter users the most is that the 47-year-old has accepted a £250,000 fee to run against Blatter by Paddy Power, despite asking the public to help fund the campaign. Needless to say, numerous journalists took to Twitter to express their concern, unhappiness and downright anger with the entire process, as can be seen below.

What does have to be said is that Ginola expressed a deep and sincere passion for the game, and demonstrated that allegations of Fifa’s corruption along with recent scandals under Blatter’s reign meant that a change was needed at the top of the game.

However, he lacked any understanding of the deep-lying problems currently in the game and when asked to name a member of the executive committee, he revealed that he couldn’t. Perhaps eager to learn, Ginola declared that his knowledge of Fifa would be greatly improved by the time the ballot deadline came around on 29 January when he will find out if he has been included in the nominations or not.

Ginola is campaigning to become the new president of Fifa (TeamGinola.com)

Not only does Ginola need the backing of five national federations, he has to prove he has held an “active role” in football administration in two of the past five years.

As part of the launch, Ginola posted a video on the teamginola.com website, in which he said: "I'm standing because like you, I love football.

"Whether you are on the terraces or on the pitch we all know that the FIFA system isn't working.

"The game needs to change, but I can't change it on my own. I need you to stand up and change it with me. I need you in my team.

"By joining Team Ginola you are saying 'yes' to a FIFA built on democracy, transparency and equality. You are saying 'yes' to a FIFA which cares about one thing - football."

Blatter has been Fifa president since 1998 (Getty Images)

Along with Blatter, Ginola will also face competition from Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, a FIFA vice-president and current member of the executive committee, and former Fifa deputy secretary general Jerome Champagne – should Ginola make the cut come 29 January.