"Wednesday 29 July 2015

I am standing for the Fifa presidency.

I wanted you, the leaders of your national football association, to be the first to know.

There are times in life when you have to take your destiny into your own hands. I am at one of those decisive moments, at a juncture in my life and in events that are shaping the future of Fifa.

For more than 50 years, my life has revolved around football. It has never stopped being my passion and it is still what motivates and drives me. When I was a player and then a national coach, football was an exhilarating field of play.

Through the various offices I have held within the French Football Federation, the Fifa executive committee and as president of Uefa, it has become a field of responsibility. It has helped me to grow and mature. It gave me all I could wish for as a player and, over the years, it has helped me to become an accomplished man and a responsible leader.

During this last half-century or so, Fifa has only had two presidents. This extreme stability is something of a paradox in a world that has experienced radical upheavals and in a sport that has undergone considerable economic change. However, recent events force the supreme governing body of world football to turn over a new leaf and rethink its governance.

In the last few months, I have defended my ideas and proposals to give Fifa back the dignity and the position it deserves. The vacancy for the office of Fifa president and the elective extraordinary Fifa congress scheduled for 26 February 2016 give me the opportunity to put my words into action. I will not shy away from doing so.

This was a very personal, carefully considered decision, one in which I weighed up the future of football alongside my own future. I was also guided by the esteem, support and encouragement that many of you have shown me.

As the president of Uefa, I have brought Europe together on a unifying path. I gave all the national associations — big and small — the place they deserved. Now, I aspire to do the same at world level, to offer all national associations a common cause. I intend to bring all the confederations together, with one goal in mind: to bring the world of football together, listening to everyone and respecting the diversity of the game around the world.

I am taking on this candidature with enthusiasm and conviction, but also with the humility of someone who knows that he cannot succeed on his own. I am counting on your support and our common love of football so that, together, we can give the tens of millions of football fans the Fifa that they want: a Fifa that is exemplary, united and shows solidarity, a Fifa that is respected, liked and of the people.

I assure you that I will work tirelessly in the interests of football.

Yours sincerely,

Michel Platini"