Woodford says drops bid to return as Olympus CEO

Woodford said he "will today withdraw from any further action to form an alternative slate of directors."

"Despite my having done the right thing, none of the major Japanese institutional shareholders have offered one word of support to me," he said in a statement sent by email to media organizations.

Woodford was fired as chief executive in October and blew the whistle on a $1.7 billion accounting scandal at the maker of medical devices and cameras. He faced long odds to win back his job and unseat existing managers, though several large foreign shareholders supported his return.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Michael Watson)