Dutch football association boss Michael van Praag is poised to withdraw from the race to take over the helm at world football body Fifa, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

The paper says Van Praag wants to leave the way open for Jordanian prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein who has gathered more support from member countries over the past few months. Former Portuguese international Louis Figo is also on the verge of quitting, the paper says.

The Volkskrant bases its claims on Fifa sources. It says all three opponents of current chairman Sepp Blatter will hold a news conference in the Netherlands on Thursday.

The vote takes place in Zurich next week Friday. Blatter needs the support of at least 105 of the 209 Fifa members to serve a controversial fifth term at Fifa.

Intervention

The Volkskrant says the three men met in Geneva last week to discuss progress and that Van Praag and Figo originally decided to press on with their campaigns. However, they have now agreed to withdraw following the intervention of the European football body Uefa.

Van Praag told the Volkskrant in a written reaction that the candidates had discussed eventually joining forces. ‘The common aim is to bring about change at Fifa and it is a good thing there is an ever-widening international coalition which supports this,’ he said.

Earlier this month, the BBC reported the prince was on the verge of pulling out of the contest, a claim which he denied.

Normal

Van Praag had based his campaign on ensuring Fifa returns to its roots.

‘We must ensure that football continues to be for everyone,’ he said when he launched his campaign earlier this year. ‘Fifa should invest in football, not in expensive management, gifts and promotional films costing millions… Fifa needs to go back to basics, it needs to go back to acting normally,’ Van Praag said.