Sepp Blatter could attempt to remain as president of FIFA.

The newspaper said it had information that Blatter had received messages of support from African and Asian football associations asking him to rethink his decision to step down. The source told the paper Blatter was honoured by the support and had not ruled out remaining in office. FIFA did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Blatter said on 2 June he would step down as president in the wake of an FBI-led corruption investigation, having headed the organization since 1998. 

FIFA has postponed the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup.

Its secretary general Jérôme Valcke, under pressure over a $10m payment from South African World Cup organisers to the former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner that US prosecutors say was a bribe, confirmed the move at a press conference in Russia, saying it would be “nonsense” to begin the process in the current climate.

FIFA decided that bidders from any confederation except Asia could bid for the 2026 tournament and that a decision would be made by the 209 member associations in May 2017.

However, Valcke said the process had now been postponed. The United States, Mexico and Canada were expected to be among the bidders.

A 2007 email shows FIFA President Sepp Blatter and then-South African President Thabo Mbeki held "discussions" over $10 million that ultimately went to allegedly corrupt football executives as payback for supporting the country's World Cup bid, according to South Africa's Sunday Times.

The newspaper said that in the email, which was not published, Valcke wrote that the $10 million was "based on discussions between FIFA and the South African government, and also between our President [Blatter] and President Thabo Mbeki."

FIFA didn't immediately respond to a written request from The Associated Press for comment on the purported 2007 email from Valcke. Mbeki's spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga, referred the AP to the earlier statement denying the South African government's involvement in any bribes when Mbeki was president.

Belgium have climbed to second in FIFA's latest world rankings, their highest position ever.

Germany remains in the first slot, while Argentina dropped from second to third.

The top 10 remained virtually the same although Switzerland have fallen from ninth to 11th with France replacing them. Brazil remain fifth, a place below Colombia and one above Holland.

Sepp Blatter will step down as president of FIFA.

Blatter was reelected last week in the wake of bribery arrests in Switzerland.

"We need a limitation on mandates and terms of office, not only for the President but for all members of the Executive Committee," said Blatter.

Blatter secured a fifth four-year term in office last Friday.

The European body, headed by Platini, had asked its members to vote against Blatter and instead back his rival Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, yet 10 associations defied those wishes while three abstained. Prince Ali received a total 73 votes – 40 from UEFA – compared to Blatter’s 113 last week, and those who rebelled included France, Spain and Russia.

Federal authorities believe that Sepp Blatter’s top lieutenant at FIFA made $10 million in bank transactions that are central elements of the bribery scandal engulfing international soccer.

Jérôme Valcke, the soccer organization’s secretary general, is the unidentified “high-ranking FIFA official” who prosecutors say transferred $10 million in 2008 from FIFA to accounts controlled by another soccer official, Jack Warner, the law enforcement officials said. 

The indictment does not say that the high-ranking official knew that the money was being used as a bribe and, unlike many other FIFA officials and marketing executives, Mr. Valcke is not identified as a co-conspirator in the document. 

Mr. Valcke and Mr. Blatter are the two top officials in FIFA, an organization that has more than $1 billion in the bank and generates billions more each year.