FIFA have insisted Sepp Blatter will stand unopposed in Wednesday's presidential election despite the corruption scandal that saw two senior FIFA members suspended pending a full inquiry into bribery charges.

Jack Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam were suspended from all football-related activity by FIFA's ethics committee.

A complaint against Blatter by Bin Hammam that he knew about the US$40,000 payments to Caribbean Football Union officials was rejected by the ethics committee.

Bin Hammam withdrew from the FIFA presidential election early on Sunday and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke announced that the election, with Blatter as the only candidate, will take place as scheduled on Wednesday.

Petrus Damaseb, the Namibian judge presiding over the ethics committee, said there was enough evidence against Bin Hammam and Warner to justify them being suspended - pending the full inquiry.

He told a news conference in Zurich: "Mr Bin Hammam is hereby provisionally banned from taking part in any football-related activity until FIFA's ethics committee take a decision on this matter, and the same decision for Mr Jack Warner."

Two officials from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, who were alleged to have handed over the money, have also been suspended pending a full inquiry.

Blatter was accused by Bin Hammam of knowing about the payments and not reporting them but he told the ethics committee he had warned Warner that any such payments were not appropriate.

Damaseb said: "The committee took the view that the obligation to report did not arise because at that stage no wrongdoing had occurred."

Despite Bin Hammam's claim against Blatter, Warner denied that any such conversation with Blatter had taken place.

Valcke meanwhile defended Blatter's right to stand in the election but accepted the scandal was "a watershed moment" for FIFA.

Valcke said: "I don't see what is wrong with this election with Mr Sepp Blatter. I think the most important thing is a commitment from all the members of the FIFA ExCo with the president to support a change within FIFA and in his last mandate make sure that FIFA is stronger and cleaner than it was.

"Maybe we can have the top guys around the world come to put things in place to stop these things from happening again."