Fifa president Sepp Blatter was forced to sit through some stinging criticism of his leadership as his three rivals addressed an audience of European football leaders at the Uefa Congress on 24 March.

Blatter sat stony faced as Michael van Praag, Luis Figo and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan outlined their plans for football's governing body. The Swiss had earlier addressed Congress as Fifa president but had declined to give a campaign speech.

Van Praag was the most outspoken, saying there was a responsibility to "clean the mess". He said: "I simply cannot accept that we leave Fifa in its current shape for the next generation.

"The beautiful heritage of international football has been tarnished by ever-continuing accusations of corruption, bribery, nepotism and waste of money. The current state of disarray asks for a change in leadership. I cannot look away. It is the responsibility of our generation to clean the mess."

In another dig at Blatter, who has been in office since 1998 and is bidding for a fifth term, Van Praag said he would only stay in charge for one four-year mandate.

"Effective change is simply impossible under the leadership of the same person who is responsible for the state Fifa is in," he said.

Prince Ali said "around the world there is a real appetite for change, new leadership, better support to national associations, meaningful investment in football development and for Fifa to be a genuine service organisation".

He added: "Fifa, from a commercial perspective, has in many ways been riding the wave of European football's success which has also helped directly the success of the Fifa World Cup. While the popularity of the World Cup has soared, the image of the organisation has sadly declined."

Figo said he was "not a servant of a European association acting as a special agent to conquer Zurich".

He told delegates: "Fifa should not be dependent on a president, that is not healthy. What is missing is you, you all need to be more present in Fifa life".

More about Fifa
FIFA