Blatter calls crisis meeting amid FIFA probe

The North American soccer governing body, known as CONCACAF, said it was not represented at the meeting. CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb, a FIFA vice president, was among the seven men arrested in an early morning raid at a luxury hotel Wednesday by Swiss police at the request of U.S. authorities.

Blatter is resisting calls from European soccer body UEFA to postpone Friday's FIFA presidential election by six months.

UEFA has called the dual American and Swiss federal probes a “disaster for FIFA,” and is supporting Blatter's election opponent, FIFA vice president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan.

Blatter has continued to avoid appearing in public since Swiss federal agencies raided FIFA headquarters and the Baur au Lac hotel. He missed giving a scheduled speech to open a session of FIFA's medical conference in a Zurich hotel — his third skipped public appearance within 24 hours.

FIFA Chief Medical Officer Jiri Dvorak told delegates that Blatter has to “manage the situation.”

Two FIFA vice presidents were among seven men arrested at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice. In a separate investigation, Swiss federal agencies seized evidence at FIFA headquarters for a probe of the 2018-2022 World Cup bidding contests.

Blatter skipped two meetings of continental soccer organizations from Africa and South America on Wednesday. He typically would attend those ahead of Friday's annual congress of FIFA's 209 member federations.

Late Wednesday, FIFA issued a statement on behalf of Blatter in which the president insisted he was determined to root out misconduct.

The FIFA president would also usually follow protocol and attend Thursday's UEFA meeting. He is scheduled to appear later in the day.

Blatter is also expected to address member federations — the FIFA election voters — at the opening ceremony of the congress at 5 p.m. local time.

The Associated Press