Figo, who is challenging incumbent Sepp Blatter for the role, said that he wants to restore the image and credibility of football's governing body.

"In the recent months and even years, I have seen the image of FIFA deteriorate," Figo said.

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"I speak to many people in football - players, managers and association presidents - and they have told me something has to be changed.

"I agree with them and this is why I want to become FIFA president. I'm not the kind of man who sits aside and refuses to act.

"I want a new style of leadership of FIFA that can restore transparency, cooperation and solidarity.

"In my manifesto I have outlined clearly how I would seek to restore FIFA's credibility and rebuild trust in it. This will not be a quick fix, it requires fundamental changes.

"I'm ready to bring real changes to FIFA, changes that will bring a positive era for FIFA and every one of its member associations."

Luis Figo revealed his manifesto at Wembley Image credit: PA Sport

The most radical of his suggestions involves expanding the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 - and splitting the tournament across two different continents at the same time.

“I believe we should consider proposals to expand the World Cup from its current 32-team structure to a 40 or even 48-team competition," Figo said as he unveiled his manifesto at Wembley.

The 40-team proposal would keep the tournament in one venue, with eight groups of five teams each - the extra sides to be "weighted towards non-European nations", according to the manifesto. An additional three or four days would apparently be added to the tournament.

But it is the 48-team option which is most striking: two 24-team tournaments would be played concurrently on separate continents, e.g. one in Africa and one in Europe or one in the Americas and one in Asia.

There would then be a final knock-out stage in one country, which would presumably mirror the existing last-16 stage of the tournament as it currently exists.

“Both these options are feasible with an extra three to four days of tournament play. If this expansion were to take place, I believe that additional teams should come from non-European nations," he explained.

"My starting point in this debate is that by increasing the number of teams participating in the World Cup, we not only make sure that we include more countries from across the world in the greatest football competition in the world, but also enable FIFA to raise significant increased revenues that can be used to invest in the growth of the game globally."

Other ideas proposed by the Portuguese legend include rugby-style sin bins for players who abuse referees, further proliferation of goal-line technology and an end to the "triple punishment" dilemma, whereby teams whose players commit professional fouls in the box suffer a penalty kick, a red card and a subsequent suspension for the guilty player.

He would also back reverting to the "old" offside rule, in which players were penalised whether or not they are involved in play.

Figo also proposed a new distribution plan for FIFA's vast revenues, spreading more of the money to help grass roots development of the game.

The candidate's entire manifesto was later made available via his candidacy website, in which the 42-year-old said gave his general views on the development of the game.

"Football has been my passion since I was a child. I was very lucky and extremely fortunate to have the chance to play and get training from a very young age," he said.

"Unfortunately, this opportunity does not exist for most children in the world. My focus as FIFA President will be to make sure more children, boys and girls, get the same opportunity I had. Better infrastructures, more training. It is time for me to give back to the world of football everything it gave me."

Michael van Praag and Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein are also standing against Figo in the poll on May 29, though Sepp Blatter is strongly expected to win another term given his strong support in Asia and Africa.

OUR VIEW

This is not quite what we were expecting from Figo, it must be said. Splitting the World Cup across two continents is a crazier scheme than anything Sepp Blatter has dreamt up and a complete abomination. Still, it would mean more World Cup games in Europe, or at least more frequent World Cup games in Europe, which would be nice for his European backers.

Figo's plans to redistribute FIFA's money is also a canny policy to appeal to federations but as we know, Blatter has already tied up vast swathes of votes, in Africa for example. Figo has a huge battle on his hands, even with some eye-catching policies.

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