‘Out of control’ – Blatter regrets what he did to football
“Sepp, you created a monster,” Blatter’s predecessor told him
Those: dpa/Federico Gambarini
Longtime FIFA boss Sepp Blatter apologizes for how much he pushed the commercialization of football. The monster he created had become too big. I’m sorry.
Dhe former Fifa President Joseph Blatter has acknowledged possible mistakes of his own in the commercialization of football. In an interview with “Zeit”, the 86-year-old Swiss described his entry into the World Football Association as “the hour of birth of something that has grown so big that it got out of control”.
Blatter explained in the interview that he had “tried to control the business” but had repeatedly failed “because of the economic value of football and politics”. His Brazilian predecessor, João Havelange, may have been right about the failure to protect football from economic and political influence. Havelange once said to him: “Sepp, you created a monster.” Blatter emphasized that he had always tried to serve football, adding: “If I harmed him, then I’m sorry.”
From Blatter’s point of view, the upcoming World Cup with 48 nations and the plans to play the Club World Cup with 32 participants represent over-commercialisation.
World Cup soon every three years?
Blatter again described the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar as a mistake and sharply criticized his successor Gianni Infantino. He was elected as his successor after Blatter’s resignation as a result of a ban by the Fifa Ethics Committee in 2016.
In the best tradition, Infantino turns the screw of commercialization even more firmly and faster than its predecessor, just like Blatter himself did. In addition to the sporting completely pointless inflation of all competitions, the Swiss, who now lives in Qatar, is also aiming for a new timing of the World Cup.
According to Infantino, the championship should be held every two years instead of every four, because then the billions would flow twice as often. Recently there were reports of a compromise solution of three years between the tournaments. The resistance is still holding, but the recent history of football suggests that the greed for money should triumph in the end. You can ask Sepp Blatter about it.
“Anyone who knows Infantino knows that his crimes always take place shortly before the event”
The top of the German Football Association has sharply criticized the Fifa ban on Manuel Neuer’s “One Love” captain’s armband. In an interview with WELT, ex-DFB spokesman Harald Stenger finds clear words for the leadership of the world association. Fifa President Gianni Infantino was “unacceptable for this association”.
