Former France winger David Ginola’s bid for the FIFA presidency was plunged into confusion on Thursday following an announcement that his team would refund donations from his supporters.
His campaign Web site, Team Ginola, was taken down and replaced with a statement that read: “A huge thank you for supporting Team Ginola. The crowdfunding page is now closed.”
“All donations will be returned to those that have pledged. The campaign for change goes on,” it read.
However, when asked by reporters if the former Paris Saint-Germain star had abandoned his bid to unseat FIFA president Sepp Blatter in the election on May 29, a spokesperson replied “no,” without elaborating.
Ginola then took to Twitter, writing: “Not giving up, still in the race to reboot football! Will not give up... final nomination results might not be known before 8th February.”
Announcing his candidacy earlier this month, Ginola said he was being paid by a betting company ￡250,000 (US$377,183) to stand and was looking to generate money for his bid via crowd-funding.
He had set a public funding target of ￡2.3 million, but only raised ￡256,316 in pledges in two weeks.
Thursday was the deadline for candidates to confirm if they are to stand in the election for the leadership of world soccer’s governing body.
Blatter faces challenges from former Portugal winger Luis Figo, Dutch soccer chief Michael van Praag, ex-FIFA executive Jerome Champagne and Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein.
However, Champagne and Ginola are believed to have struggled to secure the backing of five national federations, which is a requirement for all presidential candidates.
Ginola had earlier claimed that he had the support of the soccer world in his bid to topple 78-year-old Blatter, who is bidding for a fifth term in office.
“I know it is very difficult to beat Blatter, but I think the football world is with me,” Ginola told Thursday’s edition of Spanish sports daily Marca.
FIFA has been mired in corruption claims relating to the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, set to take place in Russia and Qatar respectively.
US lawyer Michael Garcia, asked by FIFA to look into the bidding procedures for both tournaments, dramatically quit as the organization’s ethics investigator last month.
He resigned after losing an appeal challenging findings that cleared Russia and Qatar to stage the tournaments.
Ginola lambasted that process, claiming it has “damaged FIFA’s credibility.”
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