BLABBERING BLATTER FLEXES HIS MUSCLE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 02 Jul 2010
In another arrogant display of power by an International Sports Federation, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has warned that France may be banned from international football if its government interferes in the running of the national team.
BBC Sport quoted Blatter as saying he was sending a "clear and clean message" to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who criticized the team after a dismal World Cup campaign and pledged to personally lead an investigation into what went wrong after France, a former World Cup winner finished at the bottom of their group and were plagued by serious problems on and off the pitch.
But Blatter insisted the governing body would oppose "political interference, even if it is at presidential level." The FIFA president went on to stress that if the problems cannot be solved by consultation then the only thing we have is to suspend the federation.
Sarkozy has called for change within the French Football Federation (FFF), and during the tournament in South Africa he asked his sports minister Roselyne Bachelot to speak to the players, leaving them in no doubt about his view of their conduct.
Since the squad's return to France, Sarkozy has held talks with striker and former captain Thierry Henry, while Jean-Louis Valentin has resigned as FFF president.
The FFF has issued an apology to the French public and been savaged by the media, but Blatter is adamant that interference from governments in its affairs will not be tolerated. He blithely ignores the rights of the government and its citizens who help keep the sport alive and fund its needs who have an inalienable right to demand an accounting of a team?s performance if not is behavior.
BBC Sport quoted Blatter who said "In France they have made an 'affair d'etat' with football, but football remains in the hands of the federation.Definitely, I can tell you that political interference will be dealt with by Fifa notwithstanding what kind of interference and what is the size of the country. Fifa rules demand that national federations manage their affairs independently or face suspension from international football.
However, those who have long objected to international sports federations imposing their rules on many national associations funded by governments under the guise of keeping sports free from political interference have pointed out that in the highest level of sports, politics is the name of the game.
The fact that the stadiums in host countries where FIFA stages the World Cup are constructed and funded by host governments points to the fact that when FIFA stands to benefit from governments its welcome but when government seek to discipline their players and ensure their national federations perform well, FIFA takes umbrage.
Even on the issue of ridiculously poor officiating especially in the England-Germany match and the Argentina-Mexico showdown Blatter has refused to budge, only issuing an apology to the disadvantaged teams as though that would correct the wrong inflicted on them.
Besides that, the refusal to install technology or systems that would allow serious mistakes to be corrected reflects the mindset that FIFA?S authority and by extension even its match officials cannot be questioned.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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