Ecclestone: Blatter should not step down as FIFA president

Outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter is the subject of a criminal investigation but has received the backing of Bernie Ecclestone.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has insisted FIFA president Sepp Blatter should remain in his role.

Blatter, who announced his decision to step down in June three days after winning re-election and six after nine FIFA officials were indicted on charges of racketeering conspiracy and corruption, is suspended from his post.

The chief of world football's governing body was handed a 90-day ban after the Swiss attorney general opened a criminal investigation into an alleged "disloyal payment" made by Blatter to UEFA president Michel Platini, who was also suspended by FIFA, in 2011.

But Ecclestone told Russian television network RT: "I don't think he [Blatter] should have ever stepped down. I don't think he should have been challenged.

"If people allegedly have been corrupted to make things happen in their country, it's good.

"It's a tax football had to pay."