Sepp Blatter says it is “impossible” that he will revoke his fundamental objections to the Premier League's proposal for an international round of matches - the so-called 39th game.

Richard Scudamore plans to meet the Fifa president in the next few weeks - the meeting scheduled for last month was postponed after Blatter stated his opposition to the plan - in the hope of converting him to the cause, but Blatter has made it clear that the Premier League chief executive will be wasting his breath.

“They plan to meet me, it is true,” he said. “But it is impossible that they can persuade me of this. They cannot do it. It is not only me who is against this, it is others, too. I represent the family of football and I will bring this to the Congress of Fifa if necessary. But I do not think it is necessary. I am sure they have abandoned the plan already.”

Blatter is certainly mistaken in his final assertion. The plan for overseas matches is still being worked on at the Premier League's headquarters in London in the hope that a more detailed proposal might command Blatter's assent. But the forthright comments of the Swiss provide definitive confirmation that the hugely controversial scheme is impossible to resurrect while he remains at the helm of Fifa.

Blatter poured scorn on those who have said that the Premier League could go ahead without the consent of the world governing body. “There is a clause in our statutes that says that we can step in to prevent the game being brought into disrepute,” he said. “We will invoke this statute if the Premier League goes ahead. They say they will make changes to the idea to make it more acceptable. After one week they said they will do it for charity. Come on! It is complete nonsense.

“You already have 38 matches in the Premier League. The clubs are always criticising the international organisations who take the players to compete in different competitions because they say that the players do not have enough time to recoup or take holidays. And the same clubs and leagues are now arguing for a situation where they can play an extra match on the other side of the world. It is a contradiction.”

The Premier League, it is now clear, must either abandon its plan - at least for the time being - or risk a potentially irreparable fracture within the football family.