FIFA's reform task force chairman will come from outside football, the sport's organising body annouced on Monday.
The decision came following a meeting of confederation chiefs at the weekend.
A FIFA statement read: "At this meeting, it was decided that the Task Force 'Reforms' should be chaired by an independent person from outside of the world of football."
FIFA sponsors Visa and Coca-Cola have also both called for a wholly independent process to look at how the world governing body can bring in changes.
UEFA president Michel Platini and the Asian Football Confederation have pushed for a figurehead who is from outside of Europe, Press Association reported.
The man viewed as the favourite to be appointed, Swiss businessman Domenico Scala, was seen as being too close to FIFA as he is already deeply involved with the world governing body, as independent chairman of the audit and compliance committee.
Scala has also developed a number of the reform proposals that were put to FIFA's executive committee last week.
A spokesman for Scala told PA in an email: "Domenico Scala never applied for such a chairmanship. He would consider to chair such a task force anyway under the strict condition only, that independence was guaranteed.''
The decision on the task force chairman will be taken by the six confederation presidents and outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who is standing down in February.
Time is running short, however -- the task force has been asked to report its findings within seven weeks to the next FIFA executive committee meeting.
Campaign group New FIFA Now had labelled suggestion that Scala was wholly independent of FIFA as "laughable."
Information from Press Association was used in this report.