The president of football's world governing body, FIFA, says "more bad news will follow" for the scandal-hit organization.

"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," Sepp Blatter said in an address at the opening of the 65th Fifa congress in Zurich on Thursday.

The 79-year-old Swiss dismissed any blame for the latest controversy to hit the body, saying he could not "monitor" every official.

Blatter described the scandal "unprecedented" and that the "actions of individuals bring shame and humiliation on football and demand action and change from us all".

“I must stress that those who are corrupt in football are in a minority, as in society,” he said, adding, “We will cooperate with all authorities to make sure all involved in wrongdoing is discovered and punished, I will not allow the actions of a few to destroy the actions of those who work so hard for football.”

Blatter said he plans to “put FIFA’s ship back on the right course, in clear, transparent waters.”

“We have the opportunity to begin on the long and difficult road to rebuilding trust. We must earn it back through the decisions we make, the expectations we place on each other and the way we behave individually,” he added.

Platini: Europeans against Blatter

The president of European governing body UEFA Michel Platini also said on Thursday that a “very large majority” of European nations will oppose Blatter at the FIFA vote.

"I asked him to resign: enough is enough, Sepp. He listened to me but he told me it is too late," Platini said, adding, “I say these things with tears in my eyes. I don't like it this way. But there are just too many scandals."

While Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the recent scandal in the world football arena as a political game, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius demanded that Blatter step down.

Putin on Thursday hailed Blatter for not succumbing to “pressure put on him with the aim of banning" the major event in Russia, saying the US is trying to “spread its jurisdiction to other countries.”

Fabius also called for the postponement of FIFA’s presidential elections, saying, “There have been years of corruption allegations in this sector,”

On Wednesday, Swiss authorities launched a raid on a FIFA summit in Zurich and arrested seven high-profile officials of the football governing body. The Swiss government later said the raid was part of a US-led probe into alleged corruption in FIFA.

Meanwhile Swiss authorities have launched a separate probe into the granting of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively to Russia and Qatar, a controversial case which has embarrassed Blatter and other FIFA senior officials over the past months.

FIFA delegates are in Zurich to elect the next FIFA president. However some football associations around the world have called for the elections to be postponed.

Blatter is hopeful to win a fifth term in a vote at the congress on Friday. His only challenger is Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan, a FIFA vice president, who has called for widespread reforms.

MRA/KA/HMV