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Blatter brushes off Figo's 'dictatorship' claims

Luis Figo had strong words for how Sepp Blatter runs FIFA, but the president was bullish in his response to the Portugal great.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has brushed aside claims from Luis Figo that he runs football's governing body as a "dictatorship" and is confident of winning a fifth term in office.

Last week Figo joined Michael Praag in pulling out of the upcoming presidential elections, leaving Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein as Blatter's sole challenger.

Figo, a former Real Madrid, Inter and Barcelona star, stated in a lengthy statement that he would not put himself forward for consideration until "it is proven to me that we are not living under a dictatorship.