As the 66-year-old Swiss left the meeting on Tuesday he and his rival in Wednesday's vote for FIFA's presidency, Issa Hayatou of Cameroon, exchanged heated words and gestured angrily at each other. Blatter had refused to allow various delegates to take the floor in the question and answer session. But he was only in the position of deciding which questions to take because Michel Zen-Ruffinen, FIFA'S general secretary, announced that he would not be running the proceedings because he had had no input and did not approve the financial report presented to delegates.

Zen-Ruffinen, vehemently opposed to the way Blatter has run FIFA for the last four years, committed something of an own goal as far as the anti-Blatter camp was concerned as the president was then able to chose only delegates he knew would not be critical of him. As it became increasingly obvious what his tactics were, the mood in the Congress Hall became increasingly electric. Blatter was loudly booed when he refused to allow David Will of Scotland, the chairman of the Internal Audit Committee investigating FIFA's finances, to answer a question raised by one delegate.

The legality of Will's committee had been questioned in a long rambling address by the Indian delegate, and when Will walked over to the podium to protest to Blatter the president ignored him and waved him away.

MORE AGITATED

Blatter, becoming ever more agitated, refused to allow the meeting to run beyond its allotted time and would not take questions from more than 15 delegates - almost all of them known opponents. He did eventually allow one from Norway's general secretary Karen Espelund. 'I would like David Will to be allowed to give his view of the financial situation,' she said. 'I would like the floor to be given to the other four vice-presidents of FIFA ... I would like this debate to be extended.' Blatter, however, brushed her aside. 'David Will can take the floor tomorrow morning and can defend himself then,' he said. 'I am not willing now to change the pattern of this Congress, nobody was against it when we started. We have to do it according to the rules.'

Espelund criticised Blatter after the meeting. 'Its been proved today, there is no democracy at FIFA, there is no transparency,' she said. 'It was obvious what was going on. He totally ignored everyone who is critical of him.' Blatter said that he would extend Wednesday's ordinary Congress from one to two days in order to allow everyone to speak, but was loudly booed for bringing the meeting to a close.

There were also angry scenes on the floor when African supporters of Blatter, who were not delegates, began haranguing Farro Addo of Somalia, a vice-president of the African Football Confederation (CAF) who claimed in March that Blatter's supporters had offered him a $100,000 bribe to vote for the president in the 1998 election. Addo was the first to raise his hand at the start of the session, but Blatter ignored him until the Somalian started shouting. 'What is going on here ? I want to ask a question,' he said. Blatter refused to let him as a question. 'Somalia is noted, sir,' the president said.

ZEN-RUFFINEN SHOCK

The meeting had begun with Zen-Ruffinen's shock announcement. It was the general secretary who produced an explosive report this month for the executive committee claiming Blatter had mismanaged FIFA's money. 'I have been prevented by the president and various other bodies within FIFA of being involved in the finances for many months,' Zen-Ruffinen said. 'I was not involved in the preparation of the financial report in front of you nor was I informed the report was in preparation. Therefore I must refuse any personal liability for the finances of FIFA and as a result I will not take part in leading this congress.'