London, May 31 : FIFA president Sepp Blatter has denied that football's world governing body is in crisis, and added that only "the FIFA family" could prevent him from being re-elected on Wednesday.

"Crisis? What is a crisis?" The Guardian quoted Blatter as saying, a day after he was cleared of corruption charges, while his rival Mohamed Bin Hammam was suspended for the same reason.

Insisting that the Congress of national federations would be his judge, Blatter claimed. "They will decide if I am a valid or a non-valid candidate, or if I am a valid or non-valid president."

His comments came after a day of high drama in which Qatar threatened legal action against FIFA''s secretary general, Jérome Valcke, for insisting that it had bought the right to host the 2022 World Cup.

Qatar quickly denied the allegations, and hours later, Valcke issued his own clarification, saying: "When I refer to the 2022 World Cup in that email, what I wanted to say is that the winning bid used their financial strength to lobby for support. I have at no time made, or was intending to make any reference to any purchase of votes or similar unethical behaviour."

Yesterday, Tory chairman of Commons Culture, John Whittingdale, had branded the decision to clear Blatter of bribery charges, but suspending Hammam, as "almost beyond farce."

"It is almost beyond farce. FIFA looks rotten to the core now - with one candidate suspended and the other sailing towards a coronation as if nothing had happened. I don't think we can go on any longer like this. European nations need to get together and make clear that this situation cannot continue," he added.

Blatter, 75, was accused of ignoring senior officials, offering inducements to Caribbean delegates, but was cleared of all charges.

Bin Hammam withdrew his name, allowing Blatter to run unopposed in the FIFA presidential election. (ANI)