UEFA, Europe's governing body for soccer, has called for FIFA's presidential elections to be postponed in the wake of high-level arrests that have rocked the sport.
Nine FIFA officials are among 14 individuals to be indicted by the United States Department of Justice on allegations of racketeering, conspiracy and corruption, with seven of those charged and arrested in Zurich on Wednesday.
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The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has also confirmed the start of separate criminal proceedings against "persons unknown" in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, following charges filed by FIFA — with the governing body described as "the injured party."
In a subsequent news conference, FIFA director of communications Walter De Gregorio stated that this week's congress and Friday's elections will go ahead as planned, but UEFA has strongly opposed such a plan.
"Today's events are a disaster for FIFA and tarnish the image of football as a whole," a UEFA statement read.
"UEFA is deeply shocked and saddened by them. These events show, once again, that corruption is deeply rooted in FIFA's culture. There is a need for the whole of FIFA to be 'rebooted' and for a real reform to be carried out.
"The upcoming FIFA Congress risks to turn into a farce and therefore the European associations will have to consider carefully if they should even attend this congress and caution a system, which, if it is not stopped, will ultimately kill football.
"The UEFA member associations are meeting tomorrow ahead of the FIFA Congress. At that point, the European associations will decide on what further steps need to be taken to protect the game of football. In the meantime, the members of the UEFA Executive Committee are convinced that there is a strong need for a change to the leadership of this FIFA and strongly believe that the FIFA Congress should be postponed, with new FIFA presidential elections to be organised [sic] within the next six months."
The U.S. Soccer Federation issued its own statement Wednesday:
"The United States Soccer Federation firmly believes there is no higher priority, and nothing more important, than protecting the integrity of our game. We are committed to the highest ethical standards and business practices, and we will continue to encourage CONCACAF and FIFA to promote the same values. Out of respect for the ongoing investigation, we will not speculate or comment further on this matter at this time."