Zurich - Beleaguered FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Thursday warned of "more bad news" for football's scandal-tainted world body but rejected calls to resign over a widening corruption controversy.
Blatter -- who faces a re-election vote Friday -- opened FIFA's annual congress by saying he could not be blamed for the corruption drama.
He said that while many people hold him "ultimately responsible" for football's actions, he could "not monitor everyone all of the time".
And after the arrest of seven top football officials at the FIFA hotel on Wednesday Blatter warned that the storm was not over.
"The next few months will not be easy for FIFA. I am sure more bad news will follow but it is necessary to begin to restore trust in our organisation," the 79-year-old said.
"We cannot allow the reputation of football and FIFA to be dragged through the mud any longer. It has to stop here."
Blatter called the scandals "unprecedented" and said the "actions of individuals bring shame and humiliation on football and demand action and change from us all."
He spoke hours after a showdown with European football chief Michel Platini who called on Blatter to quit.
Platini said he confronted Blatter at an emergency meeting of the heads of the six regional confederations.
The UEFA president said he was "sickened" and "disgusted" at the arrests and a raid by Swiss police on FIFA headquarters as part of a corruption inquiry into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.
The seven arrested in Zurich are among 14 people accused by US authorities of taking more than $150 million in bribes.
"Today I have come to ask you to quit FIFA, to resign from FIFA, to leave FIFA because its image is bad and we can no longer go on like this," Platini said he told Blatter in front of the other presidents.
Blatter only replied in a private conversation after. "He told me: 'Michel we know each other well, but it's too late. I cannot leave today when the Congress starts this afternoon."
AFP
