Fifa president Sepp Blatter resists calls to resign
Fifa President Sepp Blatter has rejected calls to resign amid the worst crisis in the global governing body's 111-year history.
Michel Platini, head of Europe's football governing body Uefa, said he had told Blatter to go "with tears in my eyes", but he had refused.
"I said, 'I'm asking you to leave, Fifa's image is terrible.' He said that he couldn't leave all of a sudden," Platini said.
It comes after dawn raids in Zurich by the Swiss authorities on behalf of the United States Department of Justice, which has indicted 18 people for alleged bribery totalling more than $150m over a 24 year period.
Swiss authorities also opened criminal proceedings into how the two future World Cups were awarded to Russia and Qatar, as well as seized documents and electronic data from Fifa headquarters.
Earlier today Blatter made his first public appearance since the scandal saying it was his responsibility to turn Fifa around.
"I know many people hold me ultimately responsible for the actions and reputation of the global football community, whether it is a decision for the hosting of a World Cup or a corruption scandal," he said.
"We, or I, cannot monitor everyone all of the time. But it must fall to me to bear the responsibility for the reputation and wellbeing of our organisation, and find a way to fix things."
Blatter is due to stand for a fifth mandate as Fifa president in an election tomorrow, where his only real challenger if Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan.
Platini said 45 or 46 of Uefa's 53 member associations would vote for Prince Ali.
However, it looks like Blatter will still have enough of the global football governing body's 209 national associations to hold onto his presidency.