Sepp Blatter 'came close to death' after being hospitalised earlier this month

Fifa President was admitted to hospital after 'small emotional breakdown'

Sepp Blatter (Getty Images)

Sepp Blatter has claimed he came close to death when he was hospitalised earlier this month following a “small emotional breakdown”.

Blatter was admitted to hospital earlier in November and released a few days later on 12 November. At the time, a spokesman said Blatter told him: “My brain and heart are fine, but my body is letting me down.”

In an interview with Swiss TV channel RTS due to be broadcast on Wednesday, Blatter said he was “very close” to death and “among the angels singing and the devil with the fire”.

“But it was the angels who sang,” he said according to a translation obtained by The Independent.

“The pressure on me was enormous. If you are strong mentally, you can resist, but at some point the body says ‘no’. Enough is enough.”

The Fifa President was provisionally suspended for 90 days as a corruption scandal engulfed the football body.

Blatter, 79, was suspended along with Uefa president Michel Platini as a criminal case investigates whether he misused Fifa money by paying Platini two million euro (£1.35m) for consultation work. They both deny any wrongdoing.

His appeal against his ban was rejected last week.