Sepp Blatter has told SFR Sport he is convinced there was never any corruption inside FIFA HQ.
The former FIFA president saw his eight-year ban from football activities cut to six years in February 2016, a suspension that arose over a payment made to former UEFA president Michel Platini.
World football's governing body handed out life bans earlier this month to three former officials who had pleaded guilty in U.S. courts to taking bribes.
Blatter, whose 17-year reign as head of FIFA came to an inglorious end in December 2015, insisted that within the walls of the body's headquarters in Zurich, there had never been corruption.
"In FIFA itself, in FIFA House, I'm convinced there was not corruption inside FIFA House," he said. "But there was corruption by people who were with FIFA, who were working with FIFA. Those who were arrested by the Americans were arrested because of their activities with their confederations, South America, North America. Not in their activities with FIFA."
The 81-year-old added he would have cleaned up the organisation had he been allowed.
"U.S. justice intervened against FIFA and called FIFA a mafia organisation, and that's what made me decide, 'Now, FIFA isn't in good shape. I've just been elected, but I'll make my mandate available,'" he said. "I didn't resign, I made my mandate available to calm the American situation and reorganise FIFA. But I wasn't able to do it anymore, because my own committee, the disciplinary committee, suspended me. Instead of letting me work, they suspended me."
Blatter will be absent from Friday's World Cup group stage draw in Moscow, and will not be able to go to next summer's tournament in an official capacity within football, though he did point out he is "not forbidden to be president of an association or go to stadiums."