The United Kingdom has said Europe should consider boycotting future World Cups, if Sepp Blatter does not quit as head of soccer's governing body over a corruption scandal, while Swiss authorities have denied they would soon question the newly re-elected FIFA president.
The Swiss-born FIFA chief complained he had been shown "zero respect" in recent days, revealing how he had rejected advice from one of his main critics, the head of the European governing body, to quit at last week's FIFA congress.
John Whittingdale, the British government minister with overall responsibility for sport, renewed calls for Mr Blatter to step aside, saying all options should be considered when it came to pressuring him to resign, including boycotting the World Cup - something that could split the sport and be calamitous for the tournament.
Mr Blatter, 79, won a vote on Friday to serve a fifth term as FIFA president, even though the US Department of Justice has charged nine soccer officials with corruption and Swiss authorities are conducting their own criminal investigation.
He has played down the impact of the scandal on one of the world's most powerful sporting bodies, which takes in billions of euro in revenue from TV marketing rights and sponsorships.
Mr Blatter is not accused of any wrongdoing personally and has implied that the United States timed news of the charges to try to scupper his re-election.
Asked how he had coped with the criticism in the past few days, he told the Swiss newspaper Sonntagsblick: "Let me put it this way: I've been shown zero respect."
Mr Blatter's future could yet depend on the reaction of FIFA's major sponsors and stakeholders such as Coca-Cola and McDonald's, who have been dismayed by the arrests and US prosecutors announcing indictments of officials and companies.
The UK-based Sunday Times newspaper reported Swiss prosecutors would question Mr Blatter, who has led FIFA for nearly 20 years, as part of a criminal investigation into votes to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.
A spokesman for Switzerland's attorney general dismissed the possibility of immediately calling in Mr Blatter as "nonsense".
"The president of FIFA will not be questioned at this point in time", the spokesman said. However, he added: "If need be, he will be questioned in the future."
