Tokyo Sexwale withdrew from the FIFA presidential race minutes before the vote on Friday, announcing his decision at the very end of his candidate's speech.
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa from Bahrain was made the favourite to become FIFA's new president in February's election by bookmaker William Hill on Monday following the eight-year ban on UEFA president Michel Platini.
FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne has protested to football's world governing body about the number of observers allowed into the hall for Friday's election, saying he believed they were working for his rivals.
In a statement, Zurich-based FIFA said the candidates proposed are: Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Musa Hassan Bility, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino, Michel Platini, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Tokyo Sexwale.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his UEFA counterpart Michel Platini could face a six-year ban from football-related activities due to corruption proceedings against them.
Sepp Blatter said he will not support any of the five candidates standing to succeed him as FIFA president, through all but one of them had spoken to him about their bids.
US sports television network ESPN has invited the five candidates in FIFA's presidential election to participate in a debate on the future of the crisis-hit governing body for world football.
World soccer's governing body FIFA will proceed with an election to pick a new president on Friday to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter and vote on a set of reforms aimed at restoring its credibility after the worst graft scandal in its history.
Key developments and reaction when world football's governing body FIFA elected Gianni Infantino as new president and voted in a series of reforms at its congress on Friday
Factbox explaining how the voting system will work at the FIFA presidential election on Friday.
Prince Ali is one of five candidates standing to replace Sepp Blatter to try to lead FIFA out of its crisis.
FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has signed an amended version of an Amnesty International pledge to end human rights abuses and corruption in the sport should he win election to soccer's top job later this month.
The race to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of Fifa is picking up steam and there is a scramble for nominations.
Gianni Infantino's election as FIFA president should give football's governing body the time it needs to begin tackling the corruption and other problems that have dragged it into the worst crisis in its 112-year history, current and former officials said.
The Iraq Football Association (IFA) pledged their support for Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein in next month's FIFA presidential election.
European soccer's governing body have asked FIFA to investigate the alleged distribution from their headquarters of an anonymous heavily critical 'dossier' on UEFA president Michel Platini, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported on Sunday.
Banned European soccer boss president Michel Platini has withdrawn his candidacy from the race for the presidency of soccer's scandal-plagued governing body FIFA, he told French sports daily L'Equipe on Thursday.
Gianni Infantino's bid for the FIFA presidency with the aim of leading the world football body out of the worst graft scandal in its history was boosted on Friday when the Swiss lawyer won "overwhelming" backing from Europe's football associations.
Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter and European soccer chief Michel Platini have lost their appeals against provisional 90-days bans by the global soccer body's ethics committee, FIFA said on Wednesday.
FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne said that as head of soccer's governing body he would seek to move the 2022 Qatar World Cup from November-December to late European spring - a step that would please European associations by averting disruption of their season.
FIFA has approved five candidates for its February presidential election amid the worst crisis in its history, after barring Liberia's Musa Bility on integrity grounds and leaving out UEFA chief Michel Platini while he remains under suspension.
Crisis-hit world football governing body FIFA faces one of the most important days in its 112-year history when it elects a new leader on Friday hoping to usher in a fresh era after decades of tawdry controversy.
The committee also handed out a 90-day suspension to FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, who had already been put on leave by the football body, and banned former FIFA Vice-President Chung Mong-joon for six years and fined him 100,000 Swiss francs (67,021).
What's in Michel Platini's head at the moment is how to take Sepp Blatter's job, and whether the Swiss can conspire to stop him.
Running highlights from FIFA's congress. World soccer's governing body has voted on a series of reforms and will elect a new president later on Friday (all times GMT): 13.30 The voting process is proving a long, drawn out affair. After an hour's voting, we have crawled to L for Latvia with little to get excited about apart from the brief appearance of Davor Suker, Golden Boot winner as the top scorer at the 1998 World Cup, as he cast Croatia's vote. Time then for a reminder that for a candidate to be elected in the first round, he must obtain at least 138 votes, two-thirds of the 207 votes cast. If this does not happen, a second round is held. This time, a simple majority -- 104 votes, which represents more than 50 percent of the votes -- is sufficient for a candidate to be elected. If no candidate gets that majority, the one with fewest votes will be eliminated and a new round will be held. This continues until one candidate obtains a majority. 12.45. Having begun his speech by promising to "die with my boots on", Sexwale ends it by withdrawing from the race, "I have got a surprise for you. My campaign ends today and I suspend my participation. With only four people it is your problem now." Markus Kattner, FIFA general secretary then reminds delegates of the voting procedure, reminding them not to photograph their ballot papers.
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