Coca-Cola, one of football's biggest sponsors, said Wednesday the allegations of corruption now swirling around Fifa, soccer's governing body, have "tarnished" the reputation of the World Cup.

Hours after the justice department accused nine senior current or former Fifa officials of "hijacking" international football to run "a World Cup of fraud", Coca-Cola became the first major sponsor to call for the organisation to put its house in order.

"This lengthy controversy has tarnished the mission and ideals of the Fifa World Cup and we have repeatedly expressed our concerns about these serious allegations. We expect Fifa to continue to address these issues thoroughly. Fifa has stated that it is responding to all requests for information and we are confident it will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities," the company said in a statement.