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 "At CAF level we are not aware of any African countries who have
written to ask Blatter to stay on," Kalusha Bwalya, a CAF executive
committee member and president of the Football Association of
Zambia, told Reuters.
"We feel it is better to get on with our own work in the mean time
and see what everyone has to say in the next months. Everybody is
waiting for clarity."
The confusion surround FIFA's leadership took a new twist on Sunday
when the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper reported that Blatter, 79, may
seek to stay on as president, less than two weeks after he promised
to step down, four days after being re-elected.
The report said Blatter had received messages of support from
African and Asian soccer associations, asking him to rethink his
decision.
Blatter was honored by the support and had not ruled out remaining
in office, the newspaper said, citing an anonymous source close to
him.
But Bwalya, a former Zambia international, said CAF was waiting for
FIFA's executive committee meeting before taking a position.
"The African members will then report back to the CAF executive when
we met on August 6 and we’ll see what will be done after that," he
said.
"At the moment there are a lot of rumors floating about and everyone
is rushing to turn the smallest piece of information into a story."
Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term as FIFA president on May 27
when his opponent Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein withdrew after Blatter
won the first round of voting by 133 votes to 73.
Four days later, as corruption allegations continued to batter FIFA,
Blatter, in a shock announcement, said he would stand down and call
a new election, due to be held between December and February.
The FBI are investigating bribery and corruption at FIFA, including
scrutiny of how soccer's governing body awarded World Cup hosting
rights to Russia and Qatar.
UEFA insiders told Reuters that European soccer's governing body was
left perplexed by the reports that Blatter would stand again and
that the plot would be too outrageous even for a Hollywood script.
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Officially, European soccer's governing body did not want to comment
but the German soccer association (DFB) called on Blatter, who is
staying on until the election, to leave quickly.
"We only know the media reports which strengthen our clear
position," spokesman Ralf Koettker told reporters. "Blatter's
announced resignation must be formally completed as soon as
possible."
Germany coach Joachim Loew said: "As far as I can speak as a coach,
FIFA must have a new structure and there has to be a certain new
start because all of this has damaged soccer, and that was
dangerous. I think resigning from a resignation should normally not
happen."
FIFA has not directly denied the newspaper report, instead referring
Reuters to the speech Blatter made on June 2 when he said he would
not be a candidate.
However, Domenico Scala, the official overseeing the process of
choosing a new president, said on Sunday that Blatter's departure
was an "indispensable" part of planned reforms to soccer's governing
body.
(Additional reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Writing by Brian Homewood
in Zurich, editing by Mitch Phillips)
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