Sepp Blatter has vowed to remain as FIFA president until February despite criminal proceeedings being opened against him in Switzerland.
In a statement, Blatter, 79, claimed he had "had done nothing illegal or improper".
Blatter, under criminal investigation by Swiss authorities, plans to remain in his job until February and told staff at the world football governing body that he was innocent of any wrong doing, Blatter's lawyers said.
An emailed statement from Blatter's personal lawyers, Lorenz Erni of Switzerland and Richard Cullen of the United States, also defended payments that Zurich-based FIFA made to Michel Platini, president of the UEFA soccer confederation, as "valid compensation" for Platini's work as an adviser.
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini - Panoramic
Since the explosive indictments and arrests of international officials in May, FIFA Sepp Blatter -- previously a prolific traveller -- had only once left his home base of Switzerland.
In the end, he wasn't even safe in his own office.
On Friday morning, staff from the Swiss Attorney General's Office (OAG) arrived at FIFA's headquarters building high in the hills above Zurich.
According to a person with knowledge of Friday's events, the team of around 15 officials, including prosecutors and Swiss police, arrived to search Blatter's office while he was attending a meeting of FIFA's ruling executive committee.
Swiss prosecutors open investigation into FIFA Blatter - Eurosport
The officials seized unspecified data, the OAG said.
The prosecutors waited until the meeting had ended before approaching the 79-year-old FIFA boss and taking him quietly to a conference room near his office, where they told him he was under a criminal probe and interviewed him for several hours.
Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber was not present and a senior deputy led the questioning, the source said.
Although Blatter was not expecting the raid, some within FIFA had been told something was coming, a FIFA source said.
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