President to stand down as planned according to FIFA

FIFA has rejected suggestions that outgoing president Sepp Blatter is set to perform a U-turn and stand for re-election as the head of world football's governing body.

Klaus Stoehlker, the former election advisor to Blatter, claimed the long-serving 79-year-old could be convinced to contest the presidency if a convincing alternative does not emerge.

But a FIFA spokesperson responded by saying Stoehlker's role as an advisor to Blatter ended on May 31, with the latter drawing attention once again to his resignation speech that came on June 2.

"Klaus Stoehlker's mandate from the FIFA president ended on 31 May 2015," the spokesperson said. "The FIFA president would like to point to his remarks from June 2."

Earlier, Stoehlker told Sky News: "As long as there is not such a candidate it remains open for Sepp Blatter to run again."

Domenico Scala, the head of the auditing and compliance committee at Fifa, urged Blatter to stay true to his word and step down between December and February.

Scala is overseeing the presidential election and said a change of leadership is vital if FIFA is to undertake far-reaching reforms in response to continued criminal investigations into corruption allegations.

"For me, the reforms are the central topic," Scala said in a statement. "That is why I think it is clearly indispensable to follow through with the initiated process of leadership change as it has been announced."

FIFA's Executive Committee is set to choose an election date at a meeting on July 20.