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FIFA president Sepp Blatter will not attend Thursday morning's FIFA medical conference in Zurich and nor is he expected to attend the meeting of UEFA's member association heads after that, a FIFA spokesman told Press Association Sport. FIFA's chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak said Blatter sent his apologies at being unable to attend the medical conference. Dvorak told delegates: "President Blatter apologises for not being able to come today because of the turbulence you have probably followed in the media. "He said he has to fulfil his duties in the management of the situation which is probably more important than to come to us, so he sends his sincere apologies." Football's world governing body was plunged into crisis after a wave of arrests of football officials including two FIFA vice-presidents in Zurich on Wednesday on bribery, fraud and money laundering charges following an FBI investigation. The U.S. Department of Justice indictment of 14 people said bribes totalling more than $150 million (£98 million) had been paid for television rights, sponsorship deals and World Cup votes. The crisis led UEFA to call for Friday's FIFA presidential election to be postponed and the European body questioned whether its 53 voting associations should even attend the Congress. In a separate development, the Swiss attorney general also opened criminal proceedings over the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, seized documents and electronic data from FIFA's headquarters and will question 10 current FIFA executive committee members who voted on that tournament. UEFA's statement has intensified the pressure on Blatter, but the world governing body has insisted the election will take place as planned.
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