Campbell bids to become London mayor

Former England soccer player Sol Campbell on Monday announced his bid to become the Conservative candidate to replace Boris Johnson as mayor of London in 2016.

"I'm in it to win it," the former Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur defender told the Sun newspaper.

The London-born 40-year-old confirmed he will attend a July 4 debate with other contenders for the Conservative nomination.

"I know I'm not going to be a frontrunner," he told the tabloid.

"But I look at people who have been in politics for five, 10, 15 years, see them muck up and think, 'You guys are supposed to be pro'!

"I bring something new to the table. I come from a working class background, it wasn't easy for me at all but I worked hard. And now it's about giving something back."

Campbell campaigned alongside Tory candidates in the run-up to this year's general election, in which Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron won re-election.

He had been touted as a possible candidate for the London parliamentary seat of Kensington and Chelsea but said his "ambitions lie elsewhere in the political arena."

Tessa Jowell and Sadiq Khan, both from the main opposition Labour party, are the favorites for mayor.

The Tories have yet to find an instantly recognizable candidate, although MP Zac Goldsmith has been tipped as one of the favorites if he decides to run.

Campbell refused to speculate on whether Tottenham fans might boycott his candidacy after he left the White Hart Lane club for North London rival Arsenal in 2001.

"If we keep thinking about football we're not going to do anything.

"We are dealing with people's lives here," he told The Sun.

Johnson was elected to parliament in last month's vote and, after stepping down as mayor next year, is expected to be made a minister in Cameron's cabinet.

Blanco's mayoral win

Meanwhile, Mexico soccer legend Cuauhtemoc Blanco appeared poised on Monday to score a victory in his political debut, leading the race for mayor in the city of Cuernavaca.

Running for the small Social Democratic Party, Blanco had 25.6 percent of the votes compared to 21.4 percent for his closest opponent, Maricela Velazquez Sanchez of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, according to a count of 70.4 percent of ballots.

The former national team star, who only retired at the age of 42 in April, used choice words to declare himself the winner late on Sunday.

Speaking of his opponents, he said: "I screwed them."

While his playing time waned at the end, Blanco left soccer a winner when his team, Puebla, won the Mexican Cup in April.

Blanco played in the 1998, 2002 and 2010 World Cups, scoring in each tournament.

His club career began in 1992 at Mexico City giant Club America and went on to play in Spain for Valladolid from 2000-02, but his stint in Europe was marred by injuries.

Before returning to Mexico, Blanco played in US Major League Soccer for the Chicago Fire from 2007-09.

Known as the "City of Eternal Spring", Cuernavaca is a favorite weekend haunt of Mexico City residents, but it is also marred by crime, which Blanco would have to tackle.

Former Arsenal and Tottenham player Sol Campbell (left) plans to run for mayor of London as the Conservative Party's nominee, while Cuauhtemoc Blanco (right), a former Mexican soccer star, is poised to be elected mayor of Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City. Ian Kington/ Afp And Tony Rivera / AP