Sepp Blatter quits: World Cup sponsors Coca-Cola and McDonald's react to resignation of Fifa president

Sepp Blatter has stepped down amid a corruption scandal at Fifa

A World Cup branded Coca-Cola drink sits on a football patterned table cloth on June 11, 2006 in Frankfurt, Germany. On the third day of the FIFA World Cup three matches will take place in Leipzig, Nuremberg and Cologne. ( Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Coca Cola, one of the major sponsors of the Fifa World Cup, has welcomed Sepp Blatter’s resignation, which has come amid a widening corruption scandal.

The drinks giant called Blatter’s decision a “positive step for the good of sport, football and its fans”.

In a statement seen by BBC News, Coca-Cola said it expected Fifa to “act with urgency” to address “the issues that have been raised and win back the trust of all who love the sport of football”.

Coco-Cola’s statement concluded: “We believe this decision will help Fifa transform itself rapidly into a much-needed 21st Century structure and institution.”

McDonald’s, another of the World Cup’s most important sponsors, used less polarised terms to address Blatter's decision.

The company said: "The allegations of corruption and questionable ethics within FIFA have overshadowed the game and taken away from the sport, players and fans.

"We're hopeful that the changes being implemented within FIFA will be a big first step in positively reforming the organisation and gaining back trust from fans worldwide."

As Blatter stepped down, days after Fifa officials elected him to serve his fifth term as the organisation’s president, he told reporters at a hastily organised press conference in Zurich: "FIFA needs profound restructuring," said Blatter, a Swiss national who has been a dominant presence at FIFA for decades.

"I decided to stand again to be elected because I was convinced it was the best option for football.

"Although the members of FIFA gave me a new mandate, this mandate does not seem to be supported by everyone in the world."

Just six days ago, police carried out a dawn raid at a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials as part of a US-led investigation, merely four days after Blatter was re-elected to a fifth term as president.

The officials are accused of carrying out widespread financial wrongdoing stretching back for more than two decades.

Swiss authorities also mounted their own criminal probe into the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.