Votes-for-cash sting pair suspended by Fifa

Amos Adamu from Nigeria and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii were trapped by a Sunday newspaper undercover investigation.

Four other Fifa officials filmed in the expos - Slim Aloulou, Amadou Diakite, Ahongalu Fusimalohi and Ismael Bhamjee - have also been suspended.

The ethics committee will meet again in mid-November to take a final decision ahead of the World Cup vote on 2 December.

Fifa ethics committee chairman Claudio Sulser said: "The decision to provisionally suspend these officials is fully justified and should not be put in question. The evidence that has been presented to us today has led us to take this provisional measure. It is crucial to protect the integrity of the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cup bidding process. We are determined to have zero tolerance for any breach of the code of ethics."

Fifa president Sepp Blatter insisted that the world governing body is not corrupt but said there were "devils" within football, as in society.

Blatter told a news conference in Zurich: "It is a sad day for football because it's a sad day in life and you cannot have always sunny days. Our society is full of devils and these devils you find them in football. We have to fight for fair play, we have to fight for respect and especially we have to fight that the people in charge of Fifa behave as they should do and if this is not the case then we have to intervene.

"As the president of Fifa I appeal to and I expect all members not only of the Fifa executive committee but all members of the Fifa family to behave in an honest, sincere and respectful manner.

"We have the necessary tools to intervene when necessary and that is what we have done today.

"I was a little bit surprised that you say: 'Is Fifa corrupt?'

"Fifa is actually, in the world of sport, a well recognised organisation and institution and, if there are some activities that are against the ethics and the morals, that's why the ethics committee came in."