Fifa executive calls Blatter to task over finances

Sepp Blatter, the president of world football's ruling body, faces a grilling over allegations of financial mismanagement and a cash-for-votes scandal at an emergency meeting of Fifa officials today – but all the indications are that he will come out fighting.

Blatter will be questioned by the 24-man Fifa executive committee in Zurich over the collapse of the marketing partners ISL, Fifa's financial state and allegations his supporters offered bribes for votes in the 1998 presidential election.

Signs that the president will defend his corner emerged yesterday when Blatter publicised the decision by Fifa's finance committee to ratify an audit and this year's budget.

This announcement came despite an earlier insistence that no statement would be made until its findings had been approved by the Fifa executive at the end of this week.

Blatter has been forced into holding the meeting after demands by a 13-member majority of the executive committee. He is under pressure to agree to an internal audit of Fifa's books, with members of the executive forming an investigations committee to look into the finances.

Blatter will point to the findings of the finance committee, which declared the £45m set aside to cover the ISL collapse was adequate, and that Fifa's cash reserves are healthy.

The finance committee chairman Julio Grondona said in a statement: "I am satisfied that the committee passed all its decisions unanimously and corroborated all the information provided by Fifa since the opening of bankruptcy proceedings against ISL. Fifa's finances are sound and it is certain that we will amply cover all current and future risks and any other unexpected expenses."

However, it is certain that Blatter's critics will not take this lying down. Some believe the ISL collapse has cost Fifa far more than has been admitted and that Blatter has been shoring up the governing body on the basis of projected income from future events.

The bankruptcy of ISL, a subsidiary of the International Sports Media and Marketing group which negotiated Fifa's television and sponsorship deals, led to the cancellation of last year's World Club Championship in Spain and forced Fifa to set up its own in-house marketing unit.

Of the 24 members of the Fifa executive, three vice-presidents – Sweden's Lennart Johansson, Cameroon's Issa Hayatou and Korea's Chung Mong-joon – have been his fiercest critics, while Fifa's Scottish vice-president David Will was among the 13 calling for an emergency meeting.

Blatter stands for re-election at the end of May but so far is unopposed, though Hayatou has hinted he may stand.

Meanwhile, reports that drink breaks could be introduced in each half of World Cup matches this summer have been dismissed by a Fifa official, Keith Cooper.

It had been suggested that two 90-second stoppages, splitting every game into quarters rather than the traditional two halves, for the players to take on water are being considered to cope with conditions in Japan and South Korea.

However, Cooper said that the move would involve a fundamental change in the laws of the game and the chances of it happening were slim.

"I think there is a big confusion here," said Cooper. "Last week in Tokyo we had a workshop with the 32 finalist teams and it was mentioned it would be a desirable thing to do.

"The laws of the game are sacrosanct and this would apply right across the board, from the World Cup right down to Saturday morning park matches."

Cooper believes there has been a misconception about conditions in Japan and Korea. "It is a bit puzzling where this has come from," he said. "Temperatures are in the low to mid-20s. We played a test competition, the Fifa Confederations Cup, in those countries last year and we didn't get one single complaint."