Hobbled before he can stand: Back-room deals and secrecy hit Zico's bid for Fifa presidency

Brazil legend Zico is facing a race against time to find five federations to support his bid to become Fifa president amid claims of secrecy and back-room deals as the battle for the job of leading football's embattled governing body intensifies. The 62-year-old, who promises to change "every single decision process as you know it today, including the way the World Cup is chosen", has until late tomorrow to declare his intention to stand as a candidate in the election on February 26. However, candidates must have the backing of a quintet of national associations and the former Japan and Iraq coach is struggling to make the numbers count as deadline day looms. "The five-federation request is a very delicate matter. It has been a hard road for me to get the support," said the man who appeared at three World Cups (1978, 1982, 1986) as a player and who also worked as a technical director when Brazil reached the World Cup final in France in 1998. "From one side I can clearly see the confederations will try to vote as one and people are keeping secret who they are getting their support from. "On the other hand, many smaller federations have clearly said they suffer pressure and they cannot support candidates such as me due to this pressure. The five-federation request is a very delicate matter. It has been a hard road for me to get the support Zico "Who is making this pressure? I don't know, but hearing clearly that they cannot publicly state who they support is a matter of concern and should not exist in football. "My team and I are working on that and we are trying our best to get every support we can. "We are not making alliances, we are not making deals, we are not making promises. We are just saying those that believe in democracy and dramatic radical change in Fifa have a choice." Fifa has been engulfed in turmoil since Sepp Blatter was re-elected to the position at the head of the organisation in May for a fifth term, before announcing his intention to stand down just days later in the wake of a scandal that saw seven people arrested in Zurich on the morning of his successful election. Blatter has since been suspended by the body's ethics committee while general secretary Jerome Valcke has also been removed from his position. Previous front runner for the role, Michel Platini, looks set to be excluded from February's vote after also being suspended, while South Korea's Chung Mong-joon, another who had declared his candidacy, has been banned. That leaves a field featuring Jordan's Prince Ali bin al-Hussein who was defeated by Blatter in May, David Nakhid from Trinidad and Tobago and former Blatter aide Jerome Champagne, while there is also the possibility of a late bid by Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa. Should Platini fail to have his suspension overturned in time to stand, none of the likely candidates will have a playing or coaching career to match Zico, leaving the former attacking midfielder bewildered this record appears to carry little weight. "I have been 45 years in football, I have worked in three continents," said Zico, who is coaching FC Goa in the Indian Super League. "I have visited more than 120 countries around the world. I have been a player, I have been a coach and I have been a manager, I've been working with the national team of Brazil at the highest level with the top players and I have been secretary of sport for Brazil and it means I know football at all levels - for real, not for business. "And me, despite all the experience I have, all the titles and all the work I have done in Japan, in Asia, and currently in India, I depend on the support of a federation from who knows where, from far away in Oceania or central America and God knows how these people were voted into the presidency of the federation they hold. But if I don't have the support of such people I cannot be president of Fifa. "How can this even be acceptable? It's not reasonable that someone like me with 45 years in football has to depend on a president that, maybe, is there as the president of his federation because there's nobody else there or because he was a better politician than someone else. He holds the key for someone like me to be or not in the race. Despite all the experience I have, all the titles and all the work I have done in Japan, in Asia, and currently in India, I depend on the support of a federation from who knows where Zico "This is intolerable, we will not accept this and in the case that I become president of Fifa this is one of the things we will be changing. As for the October 26 deadline, we are working very clearly, we are contacting most of the federations in the world and we are hearing very clearly they are afraid to support us. "But at the same time we are hearing very clearly there are a lot of people who are very happy to be by our side." The former Flamengo, Udinese and Kashima Antlers player has set his sights on returning the sport to those who know it best in an attempt to restore the integrity that was lost long ago. "In order to reclaim credibility we will change the main equation that Fifa has been working with for so many decades," he said. "We will stop putting jacket-and-tie people who are not from the football world in charge and who have just been elected from here and there by their own people, who hire football people eventually for spots they need. "We will start putting football people in place who will hire businesspeople for the specific spots. Football is above everything. You cannot have people who are specialists in holding pens dealing with what happens on the pitch. "At the end of the day, everything is about what happens on the pitch, that means players, referees, doctors, media, fans and on and on. It's not what happens in business, in closed rooms and meetings and negotiations. "We will change everything. Every single decision process as you know it today will change. We will change the way the World Cup is chosen. We will change how TV rights are sold because this is the main source of corruption and we will change how the Fifa president is chosen. "How can you imagine that this can be kept on? It's impossible. We need somebody from outside and I'm the one who wants to restore the credibility, with the help of the football world."

Hobbled before he can stand: Back-room deals and secrecy hit Zico's bid for Fifa presidency

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Brazilian legend is struggling to get backing from five federations to contest February election as Monday deadline looms for candidates to submit paperwork

Brazilian legend is struggling to get backing from five federations to contest February election as Monday deadline looms for candidates to submit paperwork