Sepp Blatter Questions Timing of FIFA Officials' Arrests in Zurich

Sepp Blatter told members of world football's governing body on Friday that they must help "fix FIFA right now" amidst allegations of corruption.

"Join us in putting FIFA back on the right track where the boats will stop rocking and go calmly into port," the FIFA president told the 65th FIFA congress in Zurich.

"It's a matter of trust, commitment and having the will to do it.

"Let's go for it -- let's do this immediately."

On Wednesday, seven high-ranking FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich in dawn raids by Swiss police acting at US request in the latest corruption scandal to rock the body.

"The guilty ones are individuals, not the whole organisation," insisted the 79-year-old Blatter, who is bidding for a fifth term as FIFA president with the vote to take place later on Friday.

Blatter suggested the arrests in Switzerland may have been timed to have an impact on the congress.

"I am not going use the word 'coincidence', but I will use a small question mark over the timing," he added.

Allegations of corruption have blighted FIFA since they awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals to Russia and Qatar respectively.

"If two other countries had emerged from the envelopes we wouldn't have had these problems, but we can't go back in time," Blatter lamented.