Sepp Blatter is set to be interviewed by Swiss prosecutors who are investigating whether FIFA officials accepted bribes to award the World Cup to Russia and Qatar, it was reported today.

The scandal-hit football boss will apparently be designated as a 'person providing information', and will face questioning along with other senior figures such as Michel Platini.

A former top prosecutor in the UK predicted today that Mr Blatter would also be interviewed by the FBI and could be arrested and potentially imprisoned, in the latest blow to his authority.

The 79-year-old was re-elected as FIFA president on Friday - just two days after 14 officials were arrested as part of an American-led probe into allegations of massive corruption.

Probe: Sepp Blatter is apparently set to be questioned by Swiss prosecutors investigating the World Cup

Victory: Blatter, 79, has been re-elected as FIFA president for a fifth consecutive term

Two British banks are believed to have launched internal investigations into whether officials used them to funnel corrupt payments, after they were named in the FBI report.

Mr Blatter has not been accused of wrongdoing, and insisted this week that he had no idea about the alleged bribe-taking at the heart of FIFA.

In the wake of the US arrests, which took place in Zurich on Wednesday morning, Swiss authorities revealed they were investigating the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Officials told Mr Blatter not to leave Switzerland so they could interview him, and it has now emerged that he will soon be questioned by local police.

The Sunday Times reported today that he is one of 10 'auskungtspersonen' - a status in Swiss law somewhere between a witness and a suspect - who sit on the FIFA executive council.

The others include UEFA president Michel Platini, who has been an outspoken critic of Mr Blatter, and Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko.

Pair: UEFA president Michel Platini, right, is also likely to be questioned by officials in Switzerland

Controversy: FA president Prince William and chairman Greg Dyke have spoken out against the alleged corruption at the heart of FIFA

ANDY BURNHAM CALLS FOR WORLD CUP BOYCOTT OVER FIFA CLAIMS AND PUTIN'S AGGRESSION Labour leadership frontrunner Andy Burnham today called for England to boycott the next World Cup, which is set to be held in Russia in 2018. The MP for Leigh suggested that the FA should 'take a stand' by refusing to participate in the contest due to the corruption allegations swirling around FIFA and Vladimir Putin's aggression towards Ukraine. Speaking to John Pienaar on BBC Radio 5 Live this morning, Mr Burnham - a passionate Everton fan - said that he 'can't see how it feels right' to take part in the World Cup. 'I've long had my doubts about Russia holding the next World Cup,' he said. 'I voiced those doubts when the situation developed in Ukraine. I said that I couldn't see how the whole world could just go to Russia as if nothing had happened. 'And now with all of these new allegations swirling round FIFA I personally believe there is a pretty overwhelming case for England taking a stand and saying that we should not participate in the next World Cup given the current appalling state of FIFA.' FA chairman Greg Dyke said it would be 'ridiculous' for England to boycott the World Cup unilaterally, but suggested that the country could join a Europe-wide protest. But Mr Burnham said: 'I think maybe they should just be a bit stronger, personally. I think they should say what I think many people feel - it's just not acceptable, particularly when you look at both of these situations. 'We've had a country here whose FA's sovereignty has been breached, so how can the football world just say that doesn't matter?' The would-be leader added that it was too early to take a stand over the 2022 World Cup, set to be held in Qatar, arguing that it was necessary to deal with the situation in Russia first. Advertisement

The Swiss probe, known as 'Operation Darwin', is questioning all members of the executive council who were involved in the 2010 vote which gave the 2018 cup to Russia and the 2022 version to Qatar.

Mr Blatter has not been named as suspect in the parallel US investigation into corruption allegations - but today a former Director of Public Prosecutions predicted that he would be embroiled in the probe.

Lord Macdonald, who was the UK's top prosecutor between 2003 and 2008, said that the FIFA boss had 'presided over this swamp for decades' and would inevitably come under new scrutiny.

Writing in the Sunday Times, he said: 'The scale of the corruption is so vast, and the contracts so huge, that prosecutors will not believe that wrongdoing is limited to a few rotten apples operating out of sight of an innocent president.'

The peer added: 'Blatter is now a person of interest in an FBI inquiry into grave criminal activity, and he is bound to be interviewed, possibly under arrest, in a process that could end in a goal rush of charges that, if he is convicted, could put him in prison for the rest of his life.'

Richard Weber, chief of the Internal Revenue Service unit which is leading the investigation, said yesterday: 'I'm fairly confident that we will have another round of indictments.'

Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered were all named in the FBI indictment over claims that corrupt FIFA employees used accounts with the banks to transfer corrupt payments.

It emerged today that Barclays and Standard Chartered were launching internal reviews into the allegations, as the Serious Fraud Office continues to monitor the situation.

Despite the twin probes which were unveiled this week, Mr Blatter won a fifth term as president by a majority of nearly two-thirds, and promptly hit out at his rivals while vowing to rid FIFA of suspicion.

He blamed the British media and US authorities for organising a vendetta against him and denied that FIFA is in crisis over the graft allegations.

Glamour: The 79-year-old football boss with his married girlfriend Linda Barras, 51, in January this year

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale today warned that the England team may have to consider boycotting future World Cups if the organisation does not change its ways.

He wrote in the Sunday Times: 'Michel Platini has talked of European nations boycotting future World Cups if Blatter refuses to stand down. No options should be ruled out.'

The Tory Cabinet minister added: 'While none of us wants to see things go that far, Platini’s dramatic decision to raise the nuclear option of a boycott underlines the sheer scale of this scandal and the lamentable failure of Fifa’s leadership to deal with it.

'One of the few certainties is that the era of bribery and backhanders must end. Fifa must finally begin to act, in the words of its much-derided motto, "for the good of the game". And that can only begin to happen if Sepp Blatter steps aside.'

Greg Dyke, chairman of the FA, suggested this morning that it would be 'ridiculous' to boycott the competition unilaterally, but added that the national team would consider taking part in a wider action.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: 'It would be ridiculous to try and do it on your own. All we would do is pull out of the World Cup and everyone would say "well done" and forget all about us.

'It's got to be done by enough nations for it to have an impact, if it's done, but I don't think Blatter will last four years.'

Mr Dyke added: 'I don't think there's any point the FA doing it on its own, we've got to do it along with other countries, alongside other large footballing nations.'

Mr Platini was the first to threaten a World Cup boycott, ahead of a UEFA meeting next week where European football giants will debate how to respond to the FIFA scandal.

Yesterday Prince William joined the calls for major reform, saying: 'FIFA must now show that it can represent the interests of fair play and put the sport first.'

South Africa admits it paid $10m to shamed FIFA boss ahead of World Cup bid

By JANE FLANAGAN in Cape Town

The president of the South African Football Association has confirmed the country's World Cup bid committee handed over $10million (£6.5million) after winning the rights to the 2010 competition - but insisted this was not a bribe.

This is the first time that South Africa has admitted paying money to the football association run by former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, the man at the centre of the bribery claims.

Warner is one of the officials arrested and indicted this week by the FBI in connection with alleged corruption and bribery at Fifa.

Controversial: Jack Warner, pictured partying shortly after he was released from jail, was allegedly paid $10million by South Africa officials in 2008

The admission by SAFA boss Danny Jordaan follows a week of denials from local football authorities and the government over claims that South Africa had paid a $10million bribe to secure the hosting of the 2010 World Cup.

Mr Jordaan, who was head of the local organising committee, said that the $10million was paid to the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) in 2008 as South Africa's contribution towards their football development fund.

Warner was president of Concacaf at the time. This week he was arrested in Trinidad, at the same time as several high-ranking officials were detained in Zurich.

South Africa is said to have promised to pay Warner $10million for his support for the 2010 bid. After South Africa won the vote‚ football officials allegedly said it was not possible to pay him out of South African government funds.

Admission: South African football boss Danny Jordaan has confirmed the payment to Concacaf

Instead‚ the money was deducted directly from a payment FIFA made to South Africa to help finance the hosting of the tournament, thereby concealing the alleged bribe.

Of the $100million which FIFA agreed to pay SAFA for hosting the 2010 World Cup, the Sunday Independent newspaper reported that SAFA only received $80million.

The paper claimed that no other football association received a cash injection comparable to the payment from SAFA to Concacaf during 2008.

A SAFA official said that Concacaf was given the money because 'it regarded itself as part of the African diaspora'.