Swiss police confirm bomb threat at FIFA headquarters

A Zurich police spokesman confirmed that they have received a bomb threat at the ongoing FIFA elective congress in Zurich.

"I can confirm there has been a bomb threat against the FIFA congress, officers have been dispatched," a spokeswoman for the city police said.

Authorities were alerted around 11am local time, police spokesman Marco Cortesi confirmed. FIFA also acknowledged receipt of the threat to news website handelszeitung.ch.

Local journalists reported that they were forced to leave their places at the venue.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter is expected to be re-elected for a fifth five-year term at the helm of world soccer governing body, defying growing calls for him to step down in the face of corruption scandals engulfing the sport's governing body.

It remains unknown whether the congress will resume.The delegates of 209 national football associations are preparing to cast their votes later on Friday for the next president of football’s world governing body, in an election overshadowed by serious allegations of corruption made by US prosecutors.

This morning, Blatter admitted that this week’s wave of arrests and corruption allegations have “unleashed a storm” but improbably called for “unity and team spirit” as he appealed for a fifth term of office.

Blatter is expected to triumph against challenger Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein as English FA chief Greg Dyke has threatened a European World Cup boycott.