ZURICH - FIFA on Wednesday provisionally suspended two members of its executive committee from Nigeria and Oceania as it scrambled to contain an alleged World Cup vote selling scandal.

The president of world football's governing body, Sepp Blatter, called it "a sad day for football", as FIFA's ethics committee warned of "zero tolerance" and officials sought to salvage the credibility of the selection process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups just weeks before the hosts are chosen.

"We had to take a decision to suspend two members of the FIFA executive committee... They are Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii," Claudio Sulser, president of FIFA's ethics committee, said.