GENEVA - Luis Figo wants to be FIFA president and claims he has the nominations needed for official challenge against Sepp Blatter.The former Portugal, Barcelona and Real Madrid playmaker announced his campaign in a statement on Wednesday timed for release with an interview with CNN.I look at the reputation of FIFA right now and I dont like it. Football deserves better, the 42-year-old Figo said in the statement. Football has given me so much during my life, and I want to give something back to the game.FIFA president Blatter is the strong favourite to get a fifth presidential term in the May 29 ballot despite bribery and financial scandals which have implicated several of his executive committee colleagues.The deadline for would-be candidates to file nominations from five of FIFAs 209 member federations is 2300 GMT Thursday.I have seen the image of FIFA deteriorate, and as I speak to many people in football — to players, managers and association presidents — so many of those people have told me that something has to be done, Figo said.Figo, the 2001 world player of the year, launched his campaign one hour before Netherlands federation president Michael van Praag held a news conference in Amsterdam to explain his bid.Van Praag also says he has five nominees but, like Figo, has not identified them.Their rival campaigns suggest splits within UEFA, which is the only one of the six FIFA confederations officially opposing Blatter.Figo was UEFAs ambassador for the Champions League final in Lisbon last year, and Van Praag is an elected member of UEFAs ruling board which met on Monday.Van Praag, an outspoken critic of Blatter last year, said late Monday he was running because no other credible challenger had emerged.UEFA president Michel Platini opted last August not to stand against Blatter, though said he encouraged rivals for his 78-year-old former mentor.On Wednesday, Platinis spokesman, Pedro Pinto, welcomed Figos entry.Credible candidates with new ideas will hopefully add to an open debate in the campaign, Pinto said in a statement. It is good for FIFA, and it is good for football to have valid candidates with extensive experience in the sport, and from different parts of the world.Platini has also supported the candidacy of his fellow FIFA vice-president, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan.Other potential contenders seeking nominations include former FIFA official Jerome Champagne — a longtime Blatter ally and the only contender to publish a detailed manifesto — and former France player David Ginola, who is being paid by a betting operator to run.Figo is also paid to do promotional work for a betting firm, Asian operator Dafabet, and was an ambassador for its 2014 World Cup promotions.It is unclear if Figo and Ginola will pass mandatory integrity checks on potential candidates by FIFAs ethics committee.The FIFA code of ethics covers officials who are forbidden from taking part in, either directly or indirectly, or otherwise being associated with, betting, gambling, lotteries and similar events or transactions connected with football matches.FIFA has set up an election oversight panel, chaired by its audit and compliance panel chairman Domenico Scala, to assess the integrity checks and nomination papers before declaring which are the official candidates.Scala is expected to publish the candidate list before mid-February.Blatter has led FIFA since 1998, and has worked for footballs governing body for 40 years.Beside the scandals during his leadership, the Swiss official has overseen FIFA use spectacular commercial success from the World Cup to build cash reserves of $1.5 billion and distribute increasing bonuses to its national members who have shown little desire for change.Blatter needs two-thirds of the votes for victory in a first round of secret balloting of the 209 members in Zurich, or a simple majority in subsequent rounds. Phillies Jimmy Foxx Jersey . LOUIS -- The St. Phillies Larry Bowa Jersey . The matchup will be made up in Minnesota at a later date. The arena was evacuated about 45 minutes before the scheduled 9:30 p.m. EST tipoff when a generator malfunction outside the arena sent smoke pouring into the building, according to NBA spokeswoman Sharon Lima. http://www.cheapphilliesjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=phillies-steve-carlton-jersey . Arsene Wenger reportedly wants to convert the player into an attacking force, much like he did with Robin Van Persie. Phillies Victor Arano Jersey . You can watch the game on TSN at 7pm et/4pm pt and listen to the game on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal. After starting the month of November on an 0-3-1 slide, the Canadiens have recorded wins in three of their last five outings (3-1-1). Phillies Chase Utley Jersey . Cruz set the tone with a two-run homer in the first inning, and Baltimore scored eight times in the eighth to pull away for a 12-3 victory in Game 1. The major league leader with 40 homers during the regular season, Cruz added an RBI single to his early blast off Max Scherzer.TORONTO -- With Chris Bosh back home on dad duty, the Miami Heat had to make do with the "Big Two." But despite a good start for Toronto, it was business as usual for the Heat. LeBron James poured in a season-high 35 points, while Dwyane Wade added 20 to propel the Heat to a 104-95 win over the Raptors on Tuesday, marking Miamis 12th consecutive victory over Toronto. DeMar DeRozan had 21 points to top the Raptors (2-2), who fell apart in the fourth quarter against the two-time defending NBA champions. "Were still a good team, we lost to a good team, we lost to the defending champs. Two-time defending champs," said Rudy Gay, who had 13 points and 10 boards. "But we still can grow, we played them pretty solid for three quarters, weve just got to learn how to finish games out." Jonas Valanciunas finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. Kyle Lowry had 13 points and five assists while Terrence Ross added 11. Bosh -- the third piece of Miamis "Big Three" -- didnt make the trip for the game that came a day after his wife Adrienne gave birth to their daughter Dylan Skye. The former Raptors all-star, who spent seven seasons in Toronto, is averaging 19.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a night. But his absence was barely noticeable -- save for the fact he wasnt there for fans to boo -- as James and Wade more than carried the load. When they werent scoring, they were helping each other score. "To see it now and to where it was before, you dont see all the hours of commitment on their part to develop different parts of their game, and that specifically is: what are they doing without the basketball?" Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said on the chemistry between his two stars. "Early on, when we put this team together, it was a challenge, they were used to having the ball so often in their hands, particularly in pivotal moments during the game, and they had to learn how to adjust, play off the ball. . . and theyve both done a tremendous job, for marquee players to make that adjustment is much easier said than done." Ray Allen had 14 points for Miami (3-2). The Heat moved the ball with high-speed precision, totalling 31 assists to Torontos 15. Still, the Raptors led by as much as 11 points in the second quarter before Wade, looking as if he was toying with Toronto, scored on a turrnaround jumper at the buzzer to end the third.dddddddddddd The basket gave the Heat a 78-74 lead heading into the fourth and sucked all the life out of Toronto. The Heat opened the fourth with a 12-0 run, and held the Raptors scoreless for more than five minutes in about as ugly a quarter as you can get. The Raptors had nine turnovers, and Lowrys driving layup with 3:58 left in the game was Torontos first field goal in the quarter. The game was out of reach by that point, and many of the 18,470 fans at the Air Canada Centre were already headed for the exits. "I thought our guys battled for three-and-a-half quarters, but those turnovers in that one stretch broke our back," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. The Raptors string of futility versus Miami is the teams longest active losing streak. James reached another milestone during the game, becoming the fifth player in NBA history to score 10 points or more in 500 consecutive games, achieving the feat with a huge first-quarter dunk. The four-time NBA MVP joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (with streaks of 787 and 508 games), Michael Jordan (866), Karl Malone (575) and Moses Malone (526) as the only players to accomplish the feat. "I felt good," James said. "And Im getting there. Im getting to where Im going out there and feeling like I was at the end of last year. That was a great road win for us tonight." Joel Anthony of Montreal played just nine minutes for the Heat and had two boards and zero points for the Heat. Valanciunas had 10 points in the first quarter to give the Raptors a nine-point lead. But Allen drained a three to cap a Miami run and pull his team even at 23-23. The Raptors led 25-23 heading into the second. A Valanciunas hook shot gave Toronto an 11-point lead with five minutes to go in the first half, but Mario Chalmers buzzer-beating three capped an 18-5 Heat run and gave Miami a 52-50 advantage at halftime. The Raptors and Heat meet three more times this season, including Nov. 29 at Miami. NOTES: The Raptors are at Charlotte on Wednesday, and Indiana on Friday before returning home to host the Utah Jazz on Saturday. . . Rapper Macklemore had a courtside seat and helped chuck T-shirts into the crowd during a timeout. . . 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