 "Sponsors pile pressure on Blatter ahead of FIFA vote")
Sponsors piled pressure on FIFA leader Sepp Blatter to clean up world football as two major corruption scandals overshadowed the start of a congress, at which he will seek a new term.
The beleaguered 79-year-old president met with the heads of all six football confederations today, according to sources who gave no details about the talks.
Amid some calls for him to stand down. Blatter remains favourite to win the presidential election tomorrow however.
Credit card giant Visa said it would "reassess" its sponsorship of FIFA unless it takes immediate action after the arrest of top FIFA leaders accused by US authorities of taking huge bribes.
While Swiss police are investigating the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, US documents indicate that South Africa paid bribes to FIFA officials to secure the 2010 World Cup.
Visa said that unless FIFA rebuilds a corporate culture with "strong ethical practices" at its heart, "we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship".
Coca-Cola, Adidas, McDonald's and Budweiser all spoke out against the corruption scandal. Corporate backers provide hundreds of millions of dollars to FIFA's finances.
FIFA's annual congress today started in Zurich but its leader stayed out of the public eye as the corruption storm grew.
But Swiss authorities said today there were no plans as yet to question Blatter.
"For the time being, there are no plans to question the FIFA president," Andre Marty, a spokesman for the office of Switzerland's attorney general, told AFP in an email.
UEFA, Europe's governing body, has called for the presidential vote to be postponed and was to meet today to decide whether to boycott the election.
"These events show, once again, that corruption is deeply rooted in FIFA's culture," UEFA said in a statement.
Some European leaders even renewed calls for Blatter to resign.
"Sepp Blatter has to go as FIFA president," said Greg Dyke, chairman of the English Football Association, which lost out to Russia for the 2018 tournament.
England is among the major backers of Blatter's only remaining challenger for the presidency, Prince Ali bin al Hussein, a FIFA vice president from Jordan. But FIFA remain adamant that the congress and vote will go ahead.
And African and Asian confederations have reaffirmed their support for Blatter.
The beleaguered 79-year-old president met with the heads of all six football confederations today, according to sources who gave no details about the talks.
Amid some calls for him to stand down. Blatter remains favourite to win the presidential election tomorrow however.
Credit card giant Visa said it would "reassess" its sponsorship of FIFA unless it takes immediate action after the arrest of top FIFA leaders accused by US authorities of taking huge bribes.
While Swiss police are investigating the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, US documents indicate that South Africa paid bribes to FIFA officials to secure the 2010 World Cup.
Visa said that unless FIFA rebuilds a corporate culture with "strong ethical practices" at its heart, "we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship".
Coca-Cola, Adidas, McDonald's and Budweiser all spoke out against the corruption scandal. Corporate backers provide hundreds of millions of dollars to FIFA's finances.
FIFA's annual congress today started in Zurich but its leader stayed out of the public eye as the corruption storm grew.
But Swiss authorities said today there were no plans as yet to question Blatter.
"For the time being, there are no plans to question the FIFA president," Andre Marty, a spokesman for the office of Switzerland's attorney general, told AFP in an email.
UEFA, Europe's governing body, has called for the presidential vote to be postponed and was to meet today to decide whether to boycott the election.
"These events show, once again, that corruption is deeply rooted in FIFA's culture," UEFA said in a statement.
Some European leaders even renewed calls for Blatter to resign.
"Sepp Blatter has to go as FIFA president," said Greg Dyke, chairman of the English Football Association, which lost out to Russia for the 2018 tournament.
England is among the major backers of Blatter's only remaining challenger for the presidency, Prince Ali bin al Hussein, a FIFA vice president from Jordan. But FIFA remain adamant that the congress and vote will go ahead.
And African and Asian confederations have reaffirmed their support for Blatter.