FIFA president Sepp Blatter has all but confirmed he would run for re-election despite criticism the game and organisation have been tarnished by accusations of corruption during his long reign.

World football’s governing body is reeling after allegations in Britain’s Sunday Times that a former top FIFA representative made payments to officials as part of a campaign to win support for Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

Yet Blatter, who has led FIFA for 16 years, made no direct reference to the scandal throughout the annual Congress, and instead pressed his case to extend his tenure.

“My mission is not finished,” he told officials from FIFA’s 209 member associations at the close of Congress, held in Sao Paulo.

“Congress, you will decide who will take this great institution forward, but I can tell you I am ready to accompany you in the future,” he added.

Blatter, who ignored calls made this week by European countries not to run again in next year’s FIFA election, enjoys the support of enough delegates to have his way even if he will not be unopposed.

Former FIFA deputy secretary general Jerome Champagne, who announced his candidacy for the top job last year, later said in a statement he was looking forward to an open debate about the issues facing the game ahead of the vote.

Earlier at the Congress, the lawyer investigating allegations of corruption surrounding FIFA said he would leave no stone unturned in a bid to dispel concerns that the probe would not take into account key evidence that recently came to light.

Michael Garcia handed in a report this week on the findings from nearly two years of work, but told FIFA delegates it did not signal the end of his investigation.

The Sunday Times newspaper reported recently that some of the “millions of documents” it had seen linked payments by former FIFA executive committee member Mohamed Bin Hammam to officials to win backing for Qatar’s World Cup bid.

Bin Hammam has not commented on his involvement since he was banned for life from football in 2012, while Qataris working on the project say he was not a part of their official bid.

Garcia said he and his team already had access to the “vast majority” of those documents, and hoped to see the rest soon.

Garcia added that his team would consider any fresh material provided to them, but would not delay the publication of the final report indefinitely.

He is due to submit it to German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, head of the Ethics Committee’s adjudicatory chamber, in about six weeks and, if he finds corruption, Qatar could be stripped of the Cup, or at least face a challenge to its position as host either through a re-vote or other processes.

Allegations over Qatar’s bid overshadowed the build-up to the World Cup, yet they were barely mentioned at FIFA’s Congress.

Member associations and confederations were promised “extraordinary success premiums” after a profitable financial year, and Blatter even threw in a surprise in the form of a proposal to introduce radical new rules to the game.

While only an informal suggestion at this stage, he proposed allowing managers to appeal against refereeing decisions up to twice each game, using video footage to settle the issue.

The mood at this year’s Congress has been unusually subdued, with statements from regional groupings underlining deep divisions in an organisation that controls the world’s most popular sport and billions of dollars in advertising revenues and television rights.

Senior officials from Europe, concerned that FIFA’s image was being irrevocably damaged by scandals that have dogged it for years, told Blatter bluntly that he should not run again.

“This (election) period has not yet started and I have to accept some number of blows,” Blatter told reporters. “This has been the most disrespectful thing I have experienced in my whole life.”

Malta FA support European stance

Meanwhile, Malta FA CEO Bjorn Vassallo has revealed that the Maltese delegation voted in favour of the introduction of age and term limits for FIFA executives but these proposals were rejected out of hand at the Congress.

“With regards to the vote on the age and term limits for FIFA officials, the MFA was on the same wavelength as many other European associations,” Vassallo told Times of Malta from Sao Paulo.

“We were in favour of these measures but it was evident from last year’s Congress in Mauritius that the other FIFA confederations were against and, in Sao Paulo, the proposals put forward by UEFA were not approved.

“Democracy implies that the decision of the majority must be respected but now more than ever, everyone must take greater responsibility for what is allegedly taking place in the highest institution of world football.

“If we genuinely want credibility, we must strengthen governance at FIFA.”