David Beckham has welcomed former Real Madrid teammate Luis Figo's bid to unseat Sepp Blatter as FIFA president, saying world football's governing body needs candidates "passionate about the game."
Figo 42, is the only former player standing in May's election, which also features FIFA vice president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein and Dutch football association chairman Michael van Praag.
Thanks to my friend David Beckham for the kind words of support http://t.co/KVP6rQoB6l
- Luís Figo (@LuisFigo) February 17, 2015
Figo played at clubs including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan during his career and won the Ballon d'Or in 2000 as well as the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2001.
Ahead of Figo's manifesto launch on Thursday, former England captain Beckham said in a statement to the Associated Press: "I welcome the candidacy of my friend Luis for FIFA president.
"Any successful organization needs to have good people who are passionate about the game and want to do the best for fans."
While not criticising Blatter, Beckham added: "FIFA will only benefit from having a wide range of strong candidates ... it's good to see people volunteer."
Figo left Barca for fierce rivals Real in 2000 before signing for Inter in 2005, and eventually retired at the San Siro four years later.
Beckham played for Real between 2003 and 2007, featuring alongside Figo and Zinedine Zidane in a three-man midfield in his debut Bernabeu campaign.