FIFPro issues criteria for new FIFA president

International players' union FIFPro has urged FIFA to block presidential contenders with a poor record on human rights.

UEFA president Michel Platini is determined to stand despite currently being suspended as FIFA investigates a £1.35m payment he received from Blatter in 2011, and Asian football boss Sheik Salman al-Khalifa looks set to enter the race before Monday's deadline.

Salman's potential candidacy would not be without controversy, however, given a number of questions he faces about human rights abuses in his native Bahrain, specifically related to the pro-democracy uprising in 2011. Salman has denied the allegations.

FIFPro, which did not name Salman, said candidates "need to show a body of work based on social wellbeing, fairness, democratic values and human rights."

Those who cannot "should be eliminated from the process without further delay", the report continued.

The union has set out four key criteria for a potential new FIFA president, with a "proven capacity to drive reform of a democratic and politically complex global body" top of the agenda.

They feel Blatter's replacement must meet certain standards if football is to "climb out of the toxic pit which continues to produce serious accusations of corrupt behaviour on almost a daily basis".

The statement said: "The future leader of FIFA has to be a proven reformer, an impeccable figure who passes the most stringent tests of integrity, carried out independently, possibly by more than one external body.

"Eliminating even the slightest perception of conflict of interest will be a critical part of a robust reform process, as opposed to the charade of self-regulation that has damaged the image of the world's most popular sport.

"All presidential candidates would need to display a track record of being able to lead, manage change and streamline outdated policies associated with a dysfunctional governance structure and politically complex global organisation such as that of FIFA."