Blatter: A Hypocritical Xenophobe With Several Hidden Agendas

Sepp Blatter has been causing quite a stir with his moronic comments of late. From his rantings about Taylor to the foreign quota, his opinions on Ronaldo to his strong link with Real Madrid, here is an account of everything that is wrong with FIFA president, Blatter.

Hypocrite – Example One: Webster

Andy Webster is a Scottish defender who brought around a lot of controversy a couple of years ago after making a move from Hearts to Wigan, then managed by Paul Jewell. Following a disagreement over contracts, he was left out of the team and the club suggested he was on the way out.

Webster made football transfer history by invoking a loophole in Article 17 of a FIFA-adopted EU law, which enabled him to cancel his contract with Hearts in the third year of a four-year deal, with the understanding that he joined a club in a foreign country and that sufficient notice be given to his former employers.

When Hearts launched a complaint, following his loan deal to Rangers the next season, Sepp Blatter waded in to the argument. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that there was no problem with the Webster deal, which angered Blatter, claiming it was worrying for football that a player could pick and choose when he left, despite being under contract.

“The decision which CAS took is very damaging for football and is a pyrrhic victory for those players and their agents, who toy with the idea of rescinding contracts before they have been fulfilled,” Blatter said in the February just gone. “Because of this unfortunate decision, the principle of contractual stability, as agreed in 2001 with the European Commission as part of the new transfer regulations and which restored order to the transfer system, has been deemed less important than the short-term interests of the player.”

Transfers from club to club should not be frivolous and we shouldn’t be looking at what the players want in the short-term.

Yesterday I wrote about Blatter’s sensational comments concerning Cristiano Ronaldo. It seems in five months, his opinions have changed dramatically.

“If the player wants to play somewhere else, then a solution should be found because if he stays in a club where he does not feel comfortable to play then it’s not good for the player and for the club,” he said. “The important thing is, we should also protect the player. I’m always in favour of protecting the player, and if the player he wants to leave, let him leave.”

Now Blatter is saying that if a player wants out, he should be granted his wish, as his needs are most important. Whilst five months ago his priority was protecting the club, he now believes it is the player who needs protection. What a coincidence.

Hypocrite – Example Two: Ronaldo the Slave

I also made a point of the absurdity of likening Cristiano Ronaldo to a slave.

In trying to bring about a rule which restricts the amount of foreigners allowed in any football team, Blatter had to take on EU laws regarding employment.

“You cannot compare a worker with a football player,” he said. “You cannot consider a footballer like any normal worker. They are more artists than workers.”

Footballers aren’t workers, they’re artists. They’re men paid astronomical amounts of money to entertain. They have distinct and different needs to the common man because of this, their treatment is more protected and superior to that of anyone else.

However, yesterday, he described footballers as workers, as people bound in slavery, working for nothing.

“There’s too much modern slavery, in transferring players or buying players,” he claimed.

Slaves? How can he possibly claim footballers are like slaves, when previously stating they weren’t even as lowly as ordinary workers? How can he possibly draw similarities between men with several cars, houses and flash clothes to slaves with no rights, no wage and no privileges, living in poverty?

We can look at any footballer’s situation to justify this, however, if it’s Ronaldo he wants to target, let’s not forget the player willingly signed in to an agreement with United in April of last year.

“I am delighted,” Ronaldo said at the time. “I spoke with Sir Alex Ferguson about my future and everyone knew that I wanted to stay. I am very happy at the club and I want to win trophies and hopefully we will do that this season.”

Now, I wonder how many of those slaves were saying the same thing when they were dragged away from their homeland?

Xenophobe – Example One: Taylor

The day Arsenal’s season changed was their draw with Birmingham, following the unfortunate incidents of Eduardo’s leg break and Gallas’ temper tantrum. Martin Taylor was vilified by many, including Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, who initially claimed the Birmingham defender should receive a life ban from the game.

It was a challenge where you’d be after the player’s head if one of yours had been on the receiving end, but as a neutral, could see it for the clumsy, late, but non-malicious tackle that it was.

“I told the International Board that a player who is deliberately attacking another player and tries to demolish him should be banned, and not only for three matches but temporarily banned or a life ban depending on the severity of the attack,” ranted Blatter in relation to the Taylor incident.

Since when has it been the FIFA president’s job to delve in to the duties of domestic league rulings. We have our own (incompetent) football body, the FA, to dish out the punishments.

Blatter’s statements move to emphasise the ‘thuggery’ of our the English league whilst completely undermining our Football Association.

In the 10 years of his reign as FIFA president, there will be plenty of players who have endured broken bones across Europe because of the tackles of others, malicious or otherwise. Yet it is the English he singles out.

Xenophobe – Example Two: Foreign Quotas

Earlier today, I addressed in detail the flaws behind Blatter’s foreign quota suggestion.

Blatter has been persistent in trying to change EU laws, which has been branded as “direct discrimination”.

The EU turned him down flat out, saying, “whether you are a goalkeeper or a factory worker – as long as you receive a salary – you are a worker. Therefore, you have the right to move and work freely within the European Union and this right must be granted also to football players.”

Blatter to continued to fight his corner though and cited the English league as a reason why the quota had to come in to place

“Football is unpredictable and sometimes without any logic but it is a fact that in the strongest English teams the best players are not always English,” he said. “So where are the best English players coming from?”

People will scratch their heads over this and think the man has a point. However, there is a serious flaw in his logic.

In last year’s FIFA World Player of the Year awards, 8 Premiership players featured in the top 26 (Ronaldo, Drogba, Gerrard, Rooney, Essien, Cech, Lampard and Terry), 4 of them were English. 10 players from La Liga featured in the same list (Messi, Ronaldinho, Henry, Cannavaro, Eto’o, Riquelme,van Nistelrooy, Deco, Marquez and Torres), 1 of them was Spanish.

With half of the Premiership’s best players being of English nationality, the national side did not quality for Euro 2008. With just one Spanish player in the best of La Liga, the national side won Euro 2008.

So, the status of our comparative national teams can’t have anything to do with the respective managers, can it? One can only speculate what Spain would have achieved with Steve McClaren in charge this year.

This foreign quota has nothing to do with improving our national side, rather, everything to do with weakening our league.

So, why does he have such a strong anti-English stance?

1. English teams are dominating European football at the moment, in terms of success and money. For the past two years running, three of the four teams in the Champions League semi-finals have been English. After United and Chelsea battled it out in the final, Blatter’s chum, UEFA chief Platini, branded us ‘cheats’.

2. Blatter’s career has not been one without controversy. His election as FIFA president came with claims of bribesto ensure he got the post over Lennart Johansson. However, it was his re-election in 2002 which will have put Blatter off the English, after our press revealed similar claims of bribery.

“The night before the election people were lining up in Le Meridien Hotel (in Paris) to receive money. Some told me they got $50,000 before the vote and the same the next day, after Blatter won”.

3. In 2006, details alleging an international cash-for-contracts scandal following the collapse of FIFA’s marketing partner ISL were exposed in English writer, Andrew Jennings’ book Foul. The focus is on the vote-rigging, overspending, dodgy accounts and secret salaries that come hand in hand with Blatter’s election and reign as FIFA president.

In Switzerland, the publishing of the book was banned since Zürich-based FIFA sought and obtained a temporary injunction.

4. In 2006, the BBC programme, Panarama, launched a scathing attack on Blatter, entitled ‘The Beautiful Bung – Corruption and the World Cup’.

It’s the biggest football party in the world. It’s brought us tantrums, tears and once, a very long time ago, triumph. But if men like these are some of the most popular in the history of the beautiful game – who are the most unpopular? You might think it was this man, but you’d be wrong. He’s not even close. Now this is one of the most unpopular men in world football, and he controls it. His name is Sepp Blatter and his organisation is in a bit of trouble.

It’s a remarkable story of bribes and secret deals and the collapse of one of the world’s biggest sports marketing companies.

The allegations I’m investigating are very serious, that some of the men who run the beautiful game here at FIFA headquarters have been pocketing bribes worth millions of pounds.

Hidden Agenda

Aside from Blatter’s obvious desire to diminish the power of the Premiership, the FIFA president has an invested interest in urging Ronaldo to leave United for Real Madrid.

“I am proud to receive this important distinction and sign this collaboration agreement with Real Madrid,” said Blatter in 2006. “I am convinced that together we can make a significant contribution to making the world a better place and, above all, bring joy and hope to young ones through our sport.”

So, what’s this all about? It’s quite shocking to learn that in November 2006, Blatter was made an honorary member of Real Madrid and received a gold and diamond club badge from Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón.

With his anti-English bias and Real Madrid affiliation, is it any wonder that Blatter is trying to weaken our league with his quota and encouraging the best player in the World to leave the Premiership for his precious Madrid? What has to happen before someone takes a serious stance against these clowns who are ruling and ruining World football?