FIFA president Sepp Blatter insists he has a clean conscience and that anyone who calls him corrupt should be sent to jail.
The 79-year-old announced last month he will step down as president following the corruption crisis that has engulfed the world governing body but says he has done nothing wrong personally.
Blatter also said he believes he will go to heaven one day.
He told German magazine Bunte: "I have a clean conscience.
"If somebody accuses me of being corrupt, I ask him whether he knows the meaning of that word. Whoever calls me corrupt will have to prove it, but nobody can prove that because I am not corrupt.
"I am open to correct or positive criticism. I can use that to reconsider if I need to change in the future. But if anybody calls me corrupt because FIFA is corrupt, I can only shake my head. Everybody who says something like that should go to jail."
The Swiss said the crisis had made him seek solace in religion.