Sunday 21 February 2016 15:45, UK
FIFA will have a new president on 26 February. After 18 years, Sepp Blatter's controversial reign will come to an official end at the FIFA Congress in Zurich.
Five candidates want to replace Blatter and become the most powerful man in world football, and whoever wins will become the ninth elected president in FIFA's 112-year history.
The new president will be elected in a secret ballot of FIFA's 209 member associations, but Kuwait and Indonesia are banned, so there may be only 207 votes up for grabs.
Africa has 54 votes, Europe 53, Asia 46, North and Central America and the Caribbean 35, Oceania 11 and South America 10.
A candidate needs two thirds of the votes to win in the first round. In subsequent rounds, the candidate with the lowest number of votes drops out and a simple majority is required to win.
During the past three months, Sky Sports News HQ has interviewed all five candidates - Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, Gianni Infantino, Prince Ali of Jordan, Jerome Champagne and Tokyo Sexwale.
Over the next week we will profile each candidate, study their manifestos and assess their chances. Today, we start with Sheikh Salman.
SHEIKH SALMAN OF BAHRAIN:
WHY IS HE STANDING?
Sheikh Salman did not intend to stand for the top job in world football this year. He decided to enter the race only when it became clear that Michel Platini's bid was in serious trouble.
In May 2013, Salman was elected president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Blatter and Platini were in Kuala Lumpur, as Salman received 33 of the 46 votes.
Last May, the AFC backed Blatter to serve a fifth term as FIFA president.
Salman and the AFC were going to back Platini this time, until details emerged of the £1.3m payment Platini had received from FIFA in 2011, a payment which had been signed off by Blatter without a written contract and a payment which led to both men being banned from football.
With Platini out of the running, the AFC needed their own man in the race and that man was Salman.
It is worth bearing in mind, though, that Salman would have stepped aside if Platini had cleared his name in time to re-enter the race.
WHAT ARE HIS CHANCES?
Sheikh Salman is the clear favourite and his chances look good. He can count on the majority of Asia's 46 votes and he is confident of securing many of Africa's 54 votes.
Last month, the AFC signed a controversial memorandum of understanding with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the CAF executive committee has endorsed him.
Salman's team believe he will receive 18 of the 25 votes of the Caribbean Football Union and 5 of the 10 votes of the South American CONMEBOL confederation.
Theoretically, he should have the votes he needs to win in the second round, but this is a secret ballot and there is no guarantee that he will get the votes he has been promised.
The other four candidates will all pick up votes in Africa and some member associations have already broken ranks and publicly endorsed Prince Ali, Gianni Infantino and Jerome Champagne.
As the frontrunner, Salman has not had to do as much travelling and campaigning as his nearest challenger Infantino. Salman's team expect him to receive between 70 and 80 votes in the first round.
WHAT KIND OF PRESIDENT WILL HE BE?
He will be a non-executive president and will delegate responsibility. Many people think FIFA needs a more hands-on approach at a time of crisis. Salman, though, is convinced that his light-touch leadership style is the way forward. He calls FIFA "a phoenix project" and he believes he is the man who can "lift the organisation from its ashes".
Richard Scudamore has been talked about as a potential FIFA secretary general in a Salman administration, but it is highly unlikely that the Premier League executive chairman would want to have anything to do with FIFA.
Salman's top executive will not necessarily have a football background, but he will be a "turnaround expert".
Salman also wants to set up a board of advisers from within the game. The great and the good will be invited to Zurich on a regular basis. Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the names on Salman's list of potential advisers.
Salman has tried repeatedly to draw a line under allegations that he was involved in the identification of athletes and footballers who were imprisoned and tortured in Bahrain in 2011. He says he can guarantee that no-one was tortured "under his authority" but the questions have not gone away and there will be more of them if he becomes FIFA president.
WHAT STANDS OUT IN HIS MANIFESTO?
Salman says he does not want to be paid, but he will publish the salaries of other senior officials.
He wants to divide FIFA into two parts. There will be "Business FIFA" and "Football FIFA".
This separation should, in theory, ensure that corruption scandals are a thing of the past. Or, as Salman puts it: "Only by strictly separating the generation of funds and supervising the flow of all monies spent can we guarantee the rebirth of FIFA".
Other candidates have talked about expanding the World Cup from 32 to 40 teams, but Salman believes this is a policy designed to attract votes from countries who have trouble qualifying for the tournament.
Speaking during a presentation in Miami on 11 February, Salman said: "Promises of more World Cup places during an election are unprofessional." He says any changes need to be properly studied and debated before they are introduced.
WHAT DOES HE THINK OF SEPP BLATTER?
Like all the other candidates, Salman does not want to criticise Blatter in public. Blatter received almost two-thirds of the votes at the presidential election last May and there are still many member associations who think he has been treated unfairly. Salman - and the other candidates - need their votes, so any criticism is always qualified with praise.
Salman says he has known Blatter since 1998. He says Blatter has "done many good things". He thinks Blatter made a mistake by not standing down at the end of his fourth term. He still respects Blatter: "We have to carry on the good work that has been done but in a different way. I have respect for him and his contribution for the game. Life has changed, we have to turn a page."
WHO DOES HE BLAME FOR THE FIFA CRISIS?
Salman believes FIFA's problems have been caused by rogue elements in confederations which are beyond FIFA's control. He blames individuals in the CONCACAF and CONMEBOL region and says FIFA's problems have to be put into context: "Other sports are much worse. You look at athletics and tennis and the doping and fixing - there are much worse cases than FIFA."
WHO DOES HE SUPPORT?
Manchester United. Salman says he started supporting United in the 80s. His favourite United players are Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. He admits that watching the current United team can be boring.
Watch full coverage of the FIFA Presidential Election on 26 February on Sky Sports News HQ.
