FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al Khalifa says he is encouraged to be regarded as the favourite to win the race to succeed Sepp Blatter next month.
The sheikh, a Manchester United supporter who is the head of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said if elected he will adopt similar business practices to the Premier League and Bundesliga when it comes to running FIFA.
The Bahraini royal is standing against UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale and Jerome Champagne, a former FIFA deputy secretary general from France.
Sheikh Salman told Press Association Sport: "I seem to be the favourite to win the election, judging by the media, member associations and sports betting companies alike and I am honoured to be in that position. I have been through a few elections before and I won't go into an election unless I have a good chance - the encouragement I have had has been a big boost.
"If you talk to the key people - the confederations and the member associations - there is a good understanding more or less on who is the favourite to succeed."
The sheikh has made it clear that unlike Blatter he wants to be a non-executive president, with a chief executive brought in - perhaps from outside of football - to run the organisation.
He added: "You have to separate the marketing and finance from the policy-makers and you have to have credibility in audit and compliance.
"We see examples around Europe, such as Premier League and Bundesliga, two big organisations that have managed their competitions very well. So we need to get proper people in to handle everything in FIFA and to make sure that whatever decisions we make with regard to contracts and agreements is done in a good governance way.
"I believe that a non-executive president will be ideal but that does not mean I won't be a hands-on president - I will be very present and will regularly meet with associations, particularly those who need special attention for their development."
Sheikh Salman's highest-profile opponent is Infantino but there have been suggestions the Swiss lawyer may decide to target the UEFA presidency instead now that Michel Platini has been banned from football for eight years.
The sheikh said: "We get along very well, I've known Gianni for about 10 years as well and we would like to think UEFA is a partner of ours and we need to work together for the best for the future of FIFA."
Sheikh Salman said he has supported Manchester United for the last 30 years and hopes manager Louis van Gaal can achieve some positive results over the rest of the season.
"I've always supported Man U," he said. "I've followed the team since the 80s and I know that we're not in such a good position now as it used to be when we won everything, but the competition has become so much tougher and it's always a very close race.
"The coach can make a big difference. Van Gaal has the experience but people will always judge him by the results he brings, so let's see what happens at the end of the season."
Sheikh Salman also insisted he has no "skeletons in the closet" - not least in terms of allegations that he had links to a crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners in Bahrain in 2011.
He was cleared in November to stand in the election by FIFA's electoral committee, which said it had assessed those allegations carefully.
"When people talk about skeletons in the closet, my closet is clear," said the sheikh. "Some people have an agenda but it's a waste of time trying to answer them, and I think it has already been done by the proper bodies within FIFA and the AFC.
"There has been an integrity check and I don't have anything to defend myself about."
The sheikh has been involved in a "spat" with rival candidate Prince Ali, who on Friday accused him of a "blatant attempt to engineer a bloc vote" by signing a memorandum of understanding between the AFC and the African confederation.
Prince Ali has asked FIFA's election watchdog to investigate whether election rules were broken, and Sheikh Salman has responded saying the complaint was "entirely inaccurate" and that the agreement had been worked on months before he decided to stand.
Source: PA
