Sepp Blatter has made it clear he will not resign as FIFA president and is determined to fight right up until the next election on February 26.
“I will only stop (working) on February 26 and not a day before,” Blatter told German magazine Bunte, which is due out on Thursday.
“I will fight until February 26. For me. And for FIFA.
“I am convinced that evil will come into the light and good will triumph.”
Having been re-elected as FIFA president in May, Blatter announced in June that he was calling a fresh election for February 2016 because he did not feel he had ‘a mandate from the entire world of football’.
In the Bunte interview, Blatter says he does not feel concerned although Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation against the 79-year-old for mismanagement.
“This is just an investigation. There are no charges. I will comply with the procedure and will co-operate with the authorities,” he insisted.
Even though major FIFA sponsors including Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Visa and Budweiser last week called for Blatter’s immediate resignation, the Swiss repeated his assertion that he will not bow to pressure.
“Those are just the Americans,” he said before insisting other FIFA sponsors, such as German sportswear giants Adidas, South Korean car manufacturers Hyundai and Russian energy giants Gazprom, “still stood behind me”.
Blatter sees himself as a decisive cog in the restructuring of FIFA.
“I stand by it, because I am convinced I can initiate the necessary reforms for the benefit of FIFA,” he said.
“One needs to let me finally do my job — and not keep attacking me.”