The 61-year-old Qatari will use a news conference in Kuala Lumpur to fire the starting pistol on a campaign to try to end the 13-year reign of Blatter.

Sources close to Bin Hammam, the president of the Asian confederation (AFC), say he is convinced he can beat Blatter after spending the last two months weighing up possible support among the 208 national associations who make up FIFA.

The Football Association are likely to back Bin Hammam - senior figures inside the organisation want a change at the top of world football after being disgusted at England's treatment by FIFA members in the campaign for the 2018 World Cup.

The election will take place in Zurich on June 1 and Bin Hammam will travel around the world in the 75 days between now and then trying to drum up support.

His first trip will be to Thailand, directly after tomorrow's news conference, and he will then travel to Paris for next week's UEFA Congress.

One of the key countries he will target is China, who have long been a supporter of Blatter and who wield much influence in football, especially in Asia.

The European countries who make up UEFA are likely to be split between Blatter and Bin Hammam, as are the African nations.

Bin Hammam has a strong relationship with South America after he won their backing for Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid but even inside Asia, his own confederation, he cannot be sure of universal support.

It may be that FIFA's long-time 'kingmaker' Jack Warner will once again hold the keys to power. Warner controls 35 votes as president of the CONCACAF federation and they always vote as a bloc.

Blatter has not had a challenger since 2002 when he beat Cameroon's Issa Hayatou in a landslide victory by 139 votes to 56.

Bin Hammam, once a loyal Blatter ally and a shrewd tactician and empire-builder, is likely to prove a much tougher opponent.

Blatter has already embarked on a campaign tour himself and has been in Bin Hammam's Asian heartland visiting Burma, East Timor and Laos this week.