Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, insisted yesterday that football would sign up to the new worldwide code on doping before the end of May. However, his public embrace of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) in a meeting in Zurich failed to disguise Fifa's continued refusal to agree to Wada's controversial “whereabouts” ruling of which Christine Ohuruogu fell foul in athletics.

Fifa, the most powerful of all the sports federations, won an early skirmish with Wada yesterday when it succeeded in gaining approval for flexible sanctions for footballers who fail drugs tests. However, yesterday afternoon there remained no agreement on the “whereabouts” rule, whereby footballers would join the vast majority of the world's professional sportsmen and women in providing details of where drugs-testers can find them for an hour every day.

Discussions on whereabouts were said to be “ongoing” yesterday and were to continue this weekend. However, it appears to have become an arm wrestle. Wada gave ground on other doping issues yesterday, but it does not want to be seen to be being pushed into further concessions on whereabouts.

John Fahey, the Wada president, also said that the remaining issue about whereabouts information was not a big problem and that he hoped an outcome would be achieved by the end of today. However, this is not the first time that Fifa has agreed to a Wada code revision in principle and then spent months attempting to change it. Previously, Fifa locked horns with Wada over its two-year automatic sanction; the ground that Fifa conceded on that issue appears to have been won back yesterday.

On the present issue, Blatter appears to have given himself a deadline. “There are ongoing discussions on the whereabouts,” he said. “There is not yet a definite solution found, but I promise before Fifa's Congress in May we will sign the new Wada code.”

Explore Football

• Premier League

• Football League

• Scotland

• European Football

• International Football

• TheGame

• Live Match Tracker

• The Fink Tank

• Fantasy Football