Balotelli agent Raiola latest to enter FIFA race
By Mike Collett LONDON (Reuters) - Another wildcard has entered the pack of candidates challenging Sepp Blatter for the presidency of FIFA in May's election -- Mino Raiola, a soccer agent whose clients include Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The 47-year-old Dutchman with Italian roots needs to prove five football associations support his bid and that he has been active in football for at least two of the last five years before the deadline for submitting bids expires at midnight next Friday, Jan. 29. "I'm getting violently sick when I think that Blatter could be re-elected," he is quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph. Former FIFA deputy secretary general Jerome Champagne of France and FIFA's Asian vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan are considered the only serious contenders, although Champagne has admitted he does not yet have five nominations. David Ginola, the former France international, announced his candidature last week at a press conference in London dismissed as a publicity stunt as it was organised by a betting firm. The vote for the presidency takes place at the FIFA congress in Zurich on May 29. (Editing by Martyn Herman)
