FIFA lacks credibility while Sepp Blatter is president, according to UEFA leader Michel Platini, saying his former mentor fears the "emptiness" of life after leaving soccer's world governing body.

Blatter is clinging to power "at all costs," Platini told French sports daily L'Equipe in an interview published on Monday.

Ahead of the FIFA presidential election on Friday, Platini said 79-year-old Blatter had no grand plans for FIFA and it was "not credible" to claim he needed a fifth four-year term to complete an unfinished mission.