GENEVA: Sepp Blatter may seek to stay on as the president of FIFA, a Swiss newspaper reported today, less than two weeks after Blatter said he would step down over a major corruption scandal.

However, Domenico Scala, the official overseeing the process of choosing a new president, said that Blatter's departure was an "indispensable" part of planned reforms to soccer's governing body. Blatter is under pressure to step down for good as US and Swiss authorities widened their investigations into bribery and corruption at the sport's global governing body.

But according to the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper, Blatter had received messages of support from African and Asian football associations, asking him to rethink his decision to step down. Blatter was honoured by the support and had not ruled out remaining in office, the newspaper said, citing an anonymous source close to him. Blatter said on June 2 he would step down as FIFA president in the wake of the corruption investigation, having led world governing body since 1998, although he would stay on until a successor was elected.

Scala, head of FIFA's audit and compliance committee, said in a statement that Blatter needed to stick by his pledge that he would not stand again.

Blatter has changed his mind in the past. When he began his fourth mandate in 2011, he said it would be his last, but he later backed down, stood again and was re-elected in May. Blatter's renewed interest in the job was also a reason for the departure of Walter de Gregorio as FIFA's director of communications, since he had argued for a completely new start and advised Blatter to go, the Swiss newspaper said. De Gregorio declined to comment to the newspaper.