Greg Dyke has confirmed the Football Association will vote for Gianni Infantino at the FIFA presidential election on February 26.
The UEFA general secretary is one of five candidates on the ballot to find Sepp Blatter's replacement and has recently received the support of a number of European nations, with up to 40 set to vote for him.
He became Europe's leading candidate for the role when UEFA president Michel Platini was forced to end his campaign following an eight-year ban from all footballing activities imposed by the game's governing body.
Infantino also has the support of UEFA's executive committee and appears to be the chief rival to favourite Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, president of the Asian Football Confederation.
Dyke told Sky Sports News HQ the FA would oppose Sheikh Salman because of allegations Bahrain tortured pro-democracy footballers in 2011.
Sheikh Salman denies the allegations and Dyke says he accepts the FIFA candidate was not involved, but he added: "I don't think anyone from Bahrain should be president of FIFA, given what has happened in recent years.
"I spoke to every candidate either in person or on the phone. We were impressed by Gianni and by Prince Ali Al Hussein, but in the end we decided to go with the UEFA candidate.
"It's going to be a tough job for whoever wins. A reform programme is much more important than who is the president."
Dyke is attempting to pass modernising reforms of his own at the Football Association and met with the organisation's 123-strong council on Wednesday to discuss the plans.
Among the proposals is a limit on the time council members can serve, and Dyke last month admitted the reforms might meet opposition.
But speaking to SSNHQ after Wednesday's talks, he said: "It was a good day. Eventually we'll get change, it won't necessarily be everything, but I think we'll get change.
"It was always a consultative paper, we always wanted to know what the council thought about it. Some liked it, some didn't."