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Embattled president of football's governing body Sepp Blatter is again facing growing calls to resign following remarks made in interviews with CNN and Al Jazeera.

In the Al Jazeera interview Blatter said FIFA was working to restore the organisation's battered image, he then appeared to suggest that issues involving racism could be solved by bringing culprits and victims together and getting them to 'shake hands'.

In the interview he said: 'During a match you make may say something to someone who does not look at you but at the end of the match that is forgotten, on the field of play I deny there is racism.'

The journalist then asked Blatter if he was saying that police should not get involved in racially motivated incidents on the pitch, to which Blatter replied: 'The league has to make an investigation and find a solution - they should bring the two people together and say shake hands,' before adding that he thought racisim had disappeared in the aftermath of the South Africa World Cup. 

The comments were seized on by England player Rio Ferdinand who tweeted: 'Tell me I have just read Blatter's comments wrong... if not then I am astonished.'

Ferdinand later sent a direct tweet to the 75-year-old head of world football, saying: 'Your comments on racism are so condescending it's almost laughable. If fans shout racist chants but shake our hands is that OK?'

The FIFA president's comments come at a time when Chelsea captain John Terry is being investigated by the police and the UK Football Association (FA) over alleged racist comments made to Ferdinand's brother, QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.

Liverpool's Luis Suárez has also been charged by the FA for alleged racist comments towards Ferdinand's Manchester United team-mate Patrice Evra.

Blatter's comments also come just five months after the FIFA president ran unopposed for re-election while simultaneously heading the organisation, which has long been dogged by accusations of corruption. 

So vehement was the public criticism directed at FIFA in May that four of the association's largest sponsors - credit card giant Visa, Dubai airline Emirates, drinks manufacturer Coca-Cola and sportswear brand Adidas - made statements expressing their unease with the accusations of wrongdoing.

Eddie May, managing director at PR agency Threepipe, said: 'It takes a lot for sponsors to break cover and publicly criticise an organisation like FIFA, but in the end some of them will wish to publicly distance their brands from Blatter's comments and that may override any concerns about 'rocking the boat'.

Indeed, in early November, Boutros Boutros, Emirates's divisional senior vice president of corporate communications, said in an interview: 'We are seriously thinking about not renewing our partnership with FIFA beyond 2014.'

Soccer's governing body retorted by saying it was 'surprised' by the comments attributed to an executive at sponsor Emirates.

But Blatter's most recent blunder is the latest in a long line of gaffes made by the FIFA president.

'Doubtless it will be a factor for some sponsors in evaluating whether they want to continue to be associated with FIFA,' said May.

Sponsorship is incredibly lucrative for FIFA. Five of its six largest sponsors are signed up to sponsor the organisation until at least the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with deals worth in excess of £1 billion. But some sponsorship experts believe  the alignment with a FIFA brand that is low in peoples' opinion poses a growing risk for sponsors, especially in light of Blatter's most recent comments.

Last night FIFA's corporate sponsors, including Coca-Cola, Sony and Visa, issued anti-racism ­statements in response to ­the controversy surrounding Blatter.

Visa said: 'As a global company, Visa is opposed to racism in any form.'

Sony added: 'We're continuing to focus on our support of the 2014 World Cup... including the fight against any discrimination.'

Coca-Cola said: 'Diversity is one of our core values and we do not tolerate discrimination at all.'

Adidas added: 'We are totally opposed to racism in any sport.'

May thinks the sponsors should use their clout to force change at the very top of FIFA: 'A more effective strategy would be to let it be known that they are using their influence behind the scenes to get FIFA sorted out and get Blatter out, which is in the long-term interests of the game and its fans.'

Some brands may be put off by the controversy yet the lure of the reach of World Cup sponsorship will probably continue to attract top-level global brands, said May, adding: 'FIFA would be in a much stronger and more credible position if it has a proper investigation into corruption and if Blatter steps aside before the next round of deals is negotiated.'

But Blatter's exit alone may not be sufficient. 'It also needs to show that any whiff of corruption has been independently investigated and properly dealt with,' concluded May.

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