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Fifa has fired the starting gun on the race to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of the scandal hit organisation, setting the election for 26 February next year.

The announcement came as it emerged that it was increasingly likely that Uefa’s president, Michel Platini, would stand for the role.

Following the first executive committee meeting since Blatter promised to lay down his mandate, four days after winning re-election in the wake of the dramatic indictment of 18 officials in the US, Fifa announced the new election would take place next year.

That means it will be almost nine months between Blatter’s promise to step down and the election to decide on his successor. Candidates will have until 26 October to announce whether they plan to stand under Fifa election rules.

Platini is seriously considering standing for the Fifa presidency after receiving backing from four out of the six confederations.

The Frenchman, who was only last year re-elected as Uefa president for a further term, held talks at the Baur au Lac hotel on Sunday night with the Asian Football Confederation president, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, and as significantly with Kuwait’s Fifa executive member Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah of Kuwait.

Platini is understood to be still weighing up whether to stand and will take further soundings at the World Cup draw in St Petersburg this weekend.

Other potential candidates include the longstanding Confederation of African Football president, Issa Hayatou, the former Brazilian footballer Zico and the South African former anti-apartheid activist Tokyo Sexwale.

The head of Fifa’s audit and compliance committee, Domenico Scala, has proposed a range of reforms in a bid to restore some credibility including transparency on executive pay, integrity checks for all committee members and term limits.

Meanwhile, campaign groups including Transparency International are calling for an independent reform process led by an external figure such as Kofi Annan to restore credibility in the wake of the corruption scandal that has gripped world football’s governing body.

Coca-Cola last week became the first major sponsor to call for a wide-ranging overhaul.