It's not the first one that generally comes to mind when his critics describe him, but through all of the controversies that have engulfed him and Fifa during the 17 years he has been in charge, Sepp Blatter has remained unflappable, a quality he demonstrated once again last night in a statement that treated the day's events in Zurich and New York almost as part of one of his plans.

There should be no great surprise at his coolness under fire.

Blatter retains the upper hand in his battle to stay at the top of the world game’s governing body.

In large parts of the world beyond Europe, he retains considerable support and commands loyalty based on his ability to dispense patronage.

As long as the 79-year-old former administrator can continue to look like the winner he almost certainly was before the US and Swiss authorities swung so dramatically into action, he will be.

Michel Platini and Uefa collectively know that and their call yesterday for Fifa's presidential election to be postponed is almost certainly based on the hope that things may yet get an awful lot more awkward for a man who has seemed happy down the years to surround himself with and draw support from a cast of hugely dubious characters.

The pity of it is that on several fronts, Blatter has actually been a positive force both for Fifa and for football. There is no denying the dramatic improvement in the federation’s financial fortunes over the nearly two decades that he has been pulling the strings.

And the rule changes that he has championed during that time have consistently improved the sport as a spectacle.

The problem is that he has seemed far too happy to play the game of football politics by the rules he inherited but did little to bring into the modern age.