Three men remain in contention to challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency. FIFA's election oversight panel confirmed Monday that Blatter and three rivals - Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, Michael van Praag of the Netherlands and former Portugal great Luis Figo - are now being vetted to become formal candidates after the close of nominations, AP reported. A potential fifth contender, former FIFA official Jerome Champagne, failed to secure the required five nominations. He said only three of FIFA's 209 member federations nominated him by last Thursday's deadline. The four contenders will now undergo integrity checks by FIFA's ethics committee, and have their nomination papers scrutinized by the oversight panel. The election panel expects to "formally admit and declare the candidates who are eligible for the office of FIFA President" in about two weeks. The election will be held May 29 at FIFA's congress in Zurich.
