Sepp Blatter has reaffirmed his belief in god and claimed “he will go to heaven one day”.
Blatter is due to stand down from his role as Fifa president at an extraordinary congress to be held between December and March. His decision to resign came in the wake of 14 senior executives of football’s governing body being charged with corruption by US authorities.
However, the 79-year-old is adamant that he has not committed any crime and revealed that he has been fallen back on his Christian faith to help him through the crisis.
“I have a clean conscience,” he said in an interview with German magazine Bunte.
“If somebody accuses me of being corrupt, I ask him whether he knows the meaning of that word. Whoever calls me corrupt will have to prove it, but nobody can prove that because I am not corrupt.
“I am open to correct or positive criticism. I can use that to reconsider if I need to change in the future. But if anybody calls me corrupt because Fifa is corrupt, I can only shake my head. Everybody who says something like that should go to jail.
Blatter added: “My faith has given me strength during the last week. I am a religious person and pray, too. I own a golden cross that has been blessed by Pope Francis. I believe I will go to heaven one day. But I believe there is no hell. I disagree with the pope on that.”