Set out over 13 pages and 20 points, the regulations also stipulate that for a candidate for this, one of the most powerful posts in world sport, to be successful in the first round of voting, they must win two-thirds of eligible votes in the secret ballot.

This is unless there is only one runner, in which case a simple majority of valid votes cast would be sufficient.

A simple majority would also be enough to win any subsequent round of voting.

Publication of the regulations comes about a month after Sepp Blatter, the 78-year-old incumbent President who is widely expected to run again, was told by leading figures in the European Confederation UEFA that, after four terms, it is time to step down.

It is now clear that if he does run next year Blatter would not have the support of Michel Platini, UEFA's President, although it is not clear whether Platini himself would run.

One candidate, Jérôme Champagne, formerly a leading FIFA official and, like Platini, a Frenchman, is already on the campaign trail.

Set out over 30 pages, the regulations detail the process behind the election of FIFA's President in May next year ©AFP/Getty Images



Candidates must declare at least four months before the start of the FIFA Congress, being held in Zurich on May 29 next year.

As already reported, a three-man Electoral Committee has been set up to supervise what may yet be a bitter and divisive process.

The regulations also make clear that ballot papers will be kept for 100 days after Congress closes.

"The secretary general [Jérôme Valcke] shall put the ballot papers that have been collected and counted into envelopes intended for this purpose and seal them immediately," they state.

"The general secretariat shall keep these envelopes and destroy them 100 days after the end of the Congress."

The regulations can be viewed here.