Disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said he will defend football’s governing body at the trial into corruption held in the United States.

A total of 39 people, executives and officials, are charged over bribery allegations but setting a date for a trial pencilled in for February next year has already been put back because of the mass of evidence collated.

Despite currently serving a six-year ban from football following a heavily scrutinised $1.8million (Dh7.4m) payment made by FIFA to then UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011, Blatter will speak up in support of the organisation he led for 17 years.

Blatter is not facing any charges in the US.

“When they need me to defend FIFA, I will be available,” said the Swiss, speaking at a University of Basel seminar on FIFA reform, where he subsequently denied any wrongdoing on his part.

“I am still defending FIFA in cases which are actually in court. I am fighting corruption as well. Our (FIFA’s) efforts to fight corruption were stopped. I regret I have not done enough to bring FIFA back on the right track. I take responsibility but inside FIFA, with the national associations, we have put a lot of barriers to stop corruption, bribery.

“Both the (FIFA) ethics committee and appeal committee say in the case where I am suspended there is no bribery or corruption with the president of FIFA. All those people arrested in Zurich or other countries are Americans from the North and South.”

However, Blatter was challenged on the corruption issue by former International Criminal Court pros