FIFA members are due to elect a new president and to pass reforms they hope will open an escape route from a scandal symbolised by the downfall of Sepp Blatter.
The result appears uncertain in the lead-up to Friday's vote and experts say that football's leaders will not be able to escape multinational corruption investigations, even with a new president.
The landmark presidential contest has become an Asia-versus-Europe battle between Bahrain's Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Swiss UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino.
But former FIFA vice president Prince Ali bin al Hussein is aiming to upset the odds, and received a boost on Friday with the backing of the United States and Australia. Outsiders Jerome Champagne, an ex-FIFA official, and South African tycoon Tokyo Sexwale, were also been pleading their cause to more than 200 delegates in Zurich.
However, minutes before the vote, Sexwale withdrew from the race.
"I have got a surprise for you: my campaign ends today and I suspend my participation. With only four people, it is your problem now," he told delegates at the extraordinary FIFA Congress.
"I am prepared to serve under the new president."
Al Jazeera's Lee Wellings, reporting from Munich, said Friday would be "a long day" for the 207 FIFA delegates.
"It's a long process. Someone will eventually need more than 50 percent of the vote and there will be more votes once candidates are eliminated. It could be 11 hours or so before we know who the president will be," Wellings said.
Blatter, 79, will not be present at the extraordinary congress in Zurich as he has been banned from football for six years for ethics breaches and could face criminal charges.
However, in an interview published in a Swiss newspaper on Friday, Blatter said many associations and groups had still asked his advice on who to vote for, Reuters reported.
Blatter also said he had contact with all of the candidates except Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein.
"At Christmas in Visp I drank mulled wine with one of the candidates," Blatter said, then confirming this had been with Infantino.
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