Bin Hammam, president of the Asian football confederation, has said there should be competition for the post.

He said on his Facebook account: "Competition is the best way to make the organisation vibrant and alive. Competition is good for the organisation, whether president or any other posts."

The deadline to announce a challenge is the end of March and Bin Hammam is in a powerful position following his success in winning the 2022 World Cup for his country Qatar.

In January he said he thought the time had come for a change at the top of FIFA.

Bin Hammam said then: "A change is a demand for an improvement really. I cannot be 100% frank with you, but I think FIFA needs lot of improvement.

"I think there is a scope of work I can do, there is something I can present and do for international football."

Meanwhile, the Football Association have refused to comment on reports that England's 2018 World Cup bid tried to use Prince Andrew's relationship with the Qatari royal family to secure a voting alliance with Qatar.

The BBC claim a freedom of information request has revealed diplomats and the FA tried to build an alliance with Qatar to help England's bid.