The president of the Dutch Football Association, Michael van Praag, could reportedly step down from his bid to challenge Sepp Blatter for the presidency of FIFA.

Van Praag is one of three challengers to Blatter's position and is considering standing aside in an attempt to pool unified support behind one candidate.

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein is widely regarded as the biggest threat to the incumbent Blatter, but it is understood that he is still some way short of garnering enough promises of support for victory.

That has led Van Praag and fellow candidate Luis Figo to discuss pulling out of the race in the hope that their backers switch allegiance to Prince Ali in order to dethrone Blatter.

"We can confirm that there have been discussions between the candidates regarding the possibility to join forces," said a spokesman for Van Praag.

"Our shared, collective goal is to achieve change within FIFA – it is good that there is a growing international coalition striving for that goal. That is our main focus now, it is too soon to talk about which candidate might have the biggest chance."

Blatter has been in charge of world football's governing body for 17 years and had previously promised to make his current term his last before performing a U-turn.