Sepp Blatter did not attend Thursday morning’s FIFA medical conference in Zurich as pressure grows on him to stand down. Blatter was due to address the conference 24 hours before he stands for a fifth term in a presidential election still due to go head despite Wednesday’s day of high drama on the eve of FIFA’s annual congress. The 79-year-old insists he welcomes the criminal investigations and remains fully committed to “rooting out any wrongdoing in football”. FIFA’s chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak said Blatter had sent his apologies, adding: “The president has to fulfil his duty in the management of the situation. That is probably more important than to come to us, even if medicine is very close to his heart.” UEFA wants the election postponed in the wake of revelations that two separate FIFA-related criminal investigations have been opened.