YOUR GUIDE TO TODAY’S CRUCIAL VOTE

Q: How many votes does Blatter need to be re-elected?

There are 209 votes available from national associations, although various absences, including of some of those arrested, will make it fewer, perhaps 200. If neither candidate receives a two-thirds majority in the first round of voting, a second vote will take place where all that is needed for victory is a simple majority — meaning something between 100 and 105 votes could be enough.

Q: How are the votes divided around the world?

Every member of FIFA gets one vote, no matter how big they are or their footballing history. So Malawi gets the same as world champions Germany and so on. Europe (UEFA) .......................... 53 Africa (CAF)............................... 54 Asia (AFC) .................................. 46 North and Central America (CONCACAF)............................... 35 South America .......................... 10 Oceania .......................................11 Q: Prince Ali’s camp is saying he has the majority of European votes and 60 or so more. What would that mean for Blatter?

Prince Ali would then become the next president of FIFA because he can expect at least 45 votes from UEFA members, so 60 others could take him past the majority. But that is one big ‘if’. The African confederation are pledged as a bloc to Blatter, which gives him 54 votes. The Asia confederation have 46 votes and most, if not all, will go to Blatter. CONCACAF have 35 votes and at least half and probably more will go to Blatter. With Blatter also expecting votes from South America (they have 10) and Oceania (11), you would expect him to have a clear majority, perhaps 135 votes at least, with Prince Ali on around 74 at most. But the revelations of this week might have changed some people’s minds. So if Prince Ali’s 60 is correct, it will be a seismic shock.

Q: How and when are the votes cast?

By secret ballot, from around 4pm UK time onwards and we should know the winner by 5pm. The candidates will first address the voters at about 3pm. Q: What do the bookmakers say? A: Blatter remains odds-on favourite with every single bookmaker, as strong as 1-5 in some places, although generally around 1-2. But to put that in some kind of context, he has spent much of the past few months as 1-20 favourite. Things are much closer after the past few days.