Sepp Blatter May Seek To Stay On As FIFA President: Report

Sepp Blatter, the controversial president of international soccer's governing body, FIFA, may seek to remain in his post, despite announcing his resignation amid a storm of corruption allegations just weeks ago, according to a report from a Swiss newspaper.

Blatter, who quit his post just days after being re-elected earlier this month, has received messages of support from African and Asian football associations, asking him to rethink his decision to step down, according to a report from the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper, cited by Reuters.

Blatter was honored by the support and had not ruled out remaining in office, the anonymous source told the paper.

During Blatter's tenure at the top of FIFA, the organization pumped significant amounts of money into the soccer infrastructure of many developing African and Asian nations. Some critics have accused Blatter of using this investment to effectively purchase support for his presidency.

His tenure, particularly in recent years, has been characterized by controversy. Late last month, several FIFA officials were arrested in Switzerland, as the result of a U.S. investigation into bribery, money laundering and corruption in the organization.

Earlier this month Chuck Blazer, a former FIFA official, was revealed to have told a U.S. court in 2012 that he had taken bribes to support specific bids for the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.

The awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments to Russia and Qatar respectively, has also been a cause of some unrest within world soccer, with many commentators suspecting that the tournaments were awarded as the result of bribes being paid.

If evidence of bribery is uncovered, then one or both of the tournaments could be stripped from their respective host countries, Domenico Scala, head of FIFA's auditing and compliance committee, said earlier this week.

Neither FIFA or Blatter have made any comment on the report that he may seek to retain his office.