London: England’s Football Association said it will back Michel Platini’s bid to become president of Fifa.
Platini announced on Wednesday his candidacy to replace Joseph Blatter as head of global football’s governing body.
The new FIFA president will be elected on February 26, 2016.
“We support Michel Platini’s candidacy,” FA chairman Greg Dyke said in a statement hours after the Frenchman’s announcement.
“We have a good relationship with him and hope he can gain the necessary global backing to lead a new Fifa during the most difficult period in its history.
“We understand there will be a number of candidates, which should result in a strong and healthy debate.
“However, we should not underestimate how challenging it will be for anyone to lead an organization that has been so tainted. The whole structure of FIFA must be reviewed and fundamentally changed.”
Platini, a former French international, has been Uefa president since 2007 and a member of the FIFA executive committee since 2002.
The 60-year-old declined to challenge Blatter for the FIFA presidency at a congress in Zurich on May 29.
Blatter, 79, won a fifth term by beating Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al Hussain, but days later said he planned to resign.
Fifa has been plagued by corruption allegations, with several football officials arrested and more than a dozen indicted in a US investigation.
In a separate investigation, Swiss authorities are also looking into the election process of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts.
“While we have yet to see Mr Platini’s manifesto, we believe he will fully support an ongoing reform process,” Dyke said. “We are pleased Mr Platini has decided to stand as a candidate and we look forward to supporting him.”
