David Ginola has withdrawn from the FIFA presidential race after failing to gain the minimum five nominations.
The former France and Tottenham winger's withdrawal was widely expected, and uncertainty continues over whether another prospective candidate Jerome Champagne, a former FIFA deputy general secretary, has secured the nominations.
Ginola, who was paid 250,000 pounds by a bookmaker for his two-week campaign, said: ''Having not obtained required five nominations by deadline I will not be able to continue with FIFA presidential candidacy. Just as I did as a player, I gave everything until the final whistle.''
FIFA will not publish the list of people who have put themselves forward as candidates for the presidency until next week despite the deadline having passed.
Current president Sepp Blatter, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, Dutch federation president Michael van Praag, and former Portugal international Luis Figo have all secured the necessary number of nominations.
Blatter fired his opening salvo in his campaign for re-election by saying Australia deserves to host the World Cup and that it is an ''unfortunate omission'' the country has not done so before.
England's Football Association announced on Thursday it was nominating Prince Ali, while the Scottish FA confirmed it had nominated Van Praag.
Figo confirmed he had submitted his candidacy and revealed six countries who had nominated him: Portugal, Denmark, Montenegro, Macedonia, Luxembourg and Poland.
He said: ''I am very happy to confirm that my six nominations were delivered to FIFA this week ahead of the deadline. I would like to thank my colleagues and friends from the nominating FAs and across the global football family who have already given their backing to my campaign and sent messages encouraging me in this mission. It has been a great start -- my thanks to everyone concerned.''
Prince Ali issued a statement saying his campaign had three main goals: Restoring FIFA's credibility; protecting the game and neutralising threats; and developing the game globally.
He said: ''The campaign for the presidency of FIFA has entered a new phase, and the number of candidates signals a strong desire for change.
''It is vital that a genuine debate is held and a consensus is established on key issues -- enabling everyone, especially fans, to trust FIFA again as we embark on a new era where world football is governed with integrity and credibility.''
Prince Ali added: ''I want to make FIFA a first-class organisation that is worthy of a sport that unites billions of people around the globe and is rightly declared the world's game.
''FIFA should function to promote football and work in a real partnership to support all national associations in their mission to develop the game -- we must get back to focusing on those goals.''