Former Manchester United striker Eric Cantona plans to run in this year's presidential election in France and is trying to gather the signatures needed to do so.

The football star, who would need the backing of 500 elected officials by the end of February to run, has sent a letter to French mayors describing himself as an "engaged citizen" and asking for their support, The Daily Telegraph reported.

"This engagement obliges me to speak, more earnestly than usual, but also with a keen sense of my responsibility, at a time when our country faces difficult choices which will be decisive for its future," he said in the letter.

In his letter, printed in the Liberation newspaper, Cantona denounced the limited opportunities for young people in France and social injustices which were "too numerous, too violent, too systematic", the newspaper said.

The first round of the 2012 presidential elections in France will be held in in late April, with a run-off scheduled for early May.

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