Acting general secretary Markus Kattner on Friday opened a crucial FIFA congress in which the corruption-tainted ruling football body is to elect a new president and approve a wide-ranging reform package for a fresh start.
Bahrain's Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the Asian confederation chief, and UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino are seen as the front-runners from five candidates to succeed now-banned Joseph Blatter, who had presided over FIFA since 1998.
Faced with criminal probes in the United States and Switzerland, in which top officials including six former FIFA vice-presidents have been indicted, FIFA must prove on Friday it is ready to embrace reform in what acting president Issa Hayatou called "a watershed" moment.
"The world has its eye on us today ... But we have the possibility to change this," he said in his opening address in the presence of International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.
The package, which requires a three-quarter majority of 156 votes from the 207 eligible member federations (with Kuwait and Indonesia suspended), includes on paper sweeping governance changes with less power for the president in a division between political and commercial activities; term limits and thorough integrity checks for top officials; more women in key positions; and more transparency in general.
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The president will need a two-thirds majority of 138 in the first round, and a simple majority of 104 votes from the next rounds onwards in which the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated.
Sheikh Salman received support from some two dozen activists outside the Hallenstadion venue who held up placards with the slogans "Supporting the clean man" and "FIFA will be safe with Salman".
The Asian football chief Sheikh Salman has been under fire from human rights groups, who say he was involved in arrests and possible torture of players around pro-democracy protests in Bahrain in 2011.
Sheikh Salman has denied the accusations.
Inside the venue, Zimbabwe's football supremo Phillip Chiyangwa told dpa that Africa's 54 members would all vote for Sheikh Salman because "he is the best" for the continent's needs. Sheikh Salman also has the support from the vast majority of the 44 Asian members.
Infantino has most of Europe's 53 members on his side but it is unclear whether the 10 South American members will also vote for him as pledged. Several CONCACAF members have also said they will support him.
