Under the FIS statutes, candidates must be put forward by their National Ski Association not later than 30 days before the Congress.

The biannual gathering of the FIS membership in 2020 is due to be held at the Royal Cliff Resort in Thailand on May 22.

It will be the last under the stewardship of Kasper, who will have served 22 years as President by the time he steps down.

Following the election, the first meeting of the newly composed Council, to be chaired by the Swiss' successor, will take place on May 23.

The deadline effectively gives potential candidates just over four months to campaign for the top job at the worldwide body.

The winner of next year's election will become the fifth FIS President in the organisation's 98-year history and is set to complete Kasper's four-year term.

Kasper, re-elected in 2018, took over from Marc Hodler in 1998 having served as the secretary-general under the Swiss since 1975.

Hodler, who had exposed the Olympic bid scandal relating to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and Paralympics, retired as FIS President at the age of 80.

Nicolai Ramm Østgaard of Norway led the organisation from 1934 to 1951, while Sweden's Ivar Holmquist served in the role from 1924 to 1934.

Kasper's tenure at the helm of the global body has been littered with controversial incidents.

The 75-year-old faced calls to resign earlier this year when he referred to "so-called climate change" and claimed it was easier to organise the Olympic Games in dictatorships.

Kasper, an IOC member for 18 years before moving into an honorary position at the body in 2018, was also forced to apologise after comparing calls for Russia to be banned from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang with the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany.