Jerome Champagne has announced that he will run to be the next president of FIFA.

A former advisor to incumbent Sepp Blatter, he has had a number of roles within the organization before being forced out ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

The Frenchman says he wants to tackle the "imbalances" in the game, and that football's governing body must be more democratic.

Current president Blatter has said in the past that he will not run in the 2015 contest, but has hinted at a change of heart.

But what do we know about 55-year-old Champagne?

• He cut his teeth in the world of diplomacy for 15 years before becoming Chief of Protocol of the French Organizing Committee for the 1998 World Cup in France. 
• Champagne joined FIFA in 1999 and during his 11-year stay with the organization, he fulfilled roles such as Deputy Secretary General and Director of International Relations.
• He is credited with helping Blatter in his successful reelection campaign in 2002 and also supported the President's plan to impose quotas on foreign players at clubs.
• He left FIFA, with suggestions that he was forced out. According to ESPN, he was unhappy that Blatter chose Jerome Valcke for the role of General Secretary. 
• Since then he has worked as a football consultant to the likes of the Palestinian FA and Kosovan FA.
• Pele has championed the Frenchman. The duo have been friends since the 1990s.
• As for Champagne's key proposals, he wants sin bins, the introduction of an orange card, quotas for foreign players and live TV debates for FIFA Presidential candidates.