SEPP BLATTER was left clinging to his position as Fifa president yesterday as Uefa vowed to back Ali bin al-Hussein in today’s election.

Calls for Blatter to step down and withdraw his candidacy as the head of Fifa increased dramatically after nine Fifa officials were arrested at a hotel in Zurich Wednesday morning.

Uefa leader Michel Platini confronted the 79-year-old in an emergency meeting and told him to quit, with Blatter saying he was still the right person to lead football’s governing body.

Platini then said in press conference: “I have had enough — enough is enough, too much is too much. I am the first to be disgusted.

“I told Mr Blatter: ‘We started together and now I am asking you to step down as we cannot continue this way.’

“He told me: ‘It’s too late, I can’t today all of sudden leave when Congress starts this afternoon’.”

The backing of Uefa makes the race a lot closer than originally expected, with Platini rallying a late call for more voters to distance themselves from Blatter.

“A very, very big majority of Uefa associations will vote for Prince Ali — a minimum of 45 or 46 [out of 53] and I try to convince more.”

But he did warn that should Blatter somehow be voted back into power, it would demonstrate how strong his grip is.

If he has decided to stay on, it means he is still strong,” Platini said.

“But there’s a renewal of democracy in the African zone to vote freely. As I said to Europe, vote freely — but vote for Prince Ali.”

Blatter eventually commented on the arrests and unsurprisingly said he was not to blame for the actions of others, saying that he “cannot monitor everyone all of the time.”

Speaking for the first time since this scandal erupted, he said: “Actions of individuals bring shame and humiliation on football and demand action and change from us all.

“We cannot allow the reputation of Fifa and football to be dragged through the mud, it has to stop here and now.

“I know many people hold me ultimately responsible for actions of football’s governing community.

“I cannot monitor everyone all of the time, if people want to do wrong they will also try to hide. But it must fall to me for the responsibility for organisation and find a way to fix things.”

In Parliament, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale called Fifa “deeply flawed and corrupt,” and backed the numerous calls for a change in leadership.

“Anyone who has spent any time looking at Fifa will know that this is merely the latest sorry episode, which suggests that Fifa is a deeply flawed and corrupt organisation,” he said.

Questions were then raised as to whether the Football Association should withdraw from Fifa, to which Whittingdale replied: “I shall certainly be seeing (FA chairman) Greg Dyke very shortly to discuss the attitude of the FA.

“There are a number of options — whether or not one would resort to the nuclear option which you suggested is a matter for the FA but one we will need to discuss with them.”