Adidas urges FIFA reform, not Blatter resignation

"As we have frequently stressed in the past, fundamental changes in the interest of football must be made," the company said in a statement.

"That is why the reform process that has begun must continue transparently and quickly."

German Justice Minister Heiko Maas, however, said Blatter should go to clear the way for a new beginning in the sport.

"Every day on which #Blatter is still #FIFA president is a bad day for football," he wrote on Twitter.

In separate statements issued one week after criminal proceedings were launched against the world football chief in Switzerland, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Visa and Budweiser all called on the 79-year-old Blatter to step down.

It marked the first time that FIFA's powerful financial backers -- who together have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the organisation through deals spanning decades -- had called explicitly for Blatter to resign.

In a statement issued by his US lawyer in reaction to the sponsor demands, Blatter defiantly vowed to remain in office.