#INSERT type:image caption:Wolfgang Niersbach has said he believes FIFA needs different faces at the top. END#
German football association (DFB) president Wolfgang Niersbach has said he told FIFA president Sepp Blatter to become honorary president instead of running for a fifth term.
Niersbach, speaking at a sponsors' conference, urged Blatter -- who is widely expected to win another spell in office -- to step aside, the Associated Press reported.
He said he believed it would only be possible for world football's governing body, battered by recent corruption claims, to regain "a positive image" if there were "different faces at the top."
Michael van Praag of the Netherlands, Portugal legend Luis Figo and FIFA vice president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan will all run against Blatter in this year's election.
The trio are supported by UEFA, European football's governing body, in what will be a four-candidate battle.
Over the summer, Niersbach rejected reports that he would run for the FIFA presidency himself.
The German dpa newswire quoted him as saying: "That honours me, but there is nothing to it."