Champagne announces FIFA presidential candidature

The presidential candidacy of Jérôme Champagne had been expected for a while, and the Frenchman has aired his critique of the current way of governance in the football federation as well as his vision for the future of football at several occasions.

At Play the Game 2011 in Cologne, Germany, Champagne was a keynote speaker in a session about change in sport. Here he gave a detailed assessment of his opinion on problems affecting football, and how to address these problems. Watch his presentation here (starts at apprx. 00:45)

In January 2012 Champagne published a 25-page document elaborating on how to change the governance of football by identifying seven key governance problems and 11 proposals for reform. Read more

At the EASM conference in 2012, Champagne argued that the governance of football needs to be further democratised and that there is a need to address the inequality that currently exists in football.

Later that same year, he participated in a Play the Game day in São Paulo, Brazil, where he spoke on global football issues and the FIFA World Cup. Before entering FIFA, Champagne was employed as First secretary at the Embassy of France in Brazil (1995-97). (Find an audio of his presentation from the Play the Game Day in Brazil here (in Portuguese))

Read about Jérôme Champagne's programme on his campaign website