By Andrew Warshaw at Wembley
July 31 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter tonight condemned the actions of Swiss footballer Michel Morganella and said he fully supported the Palermo defender being sent home from the Olympics.
Morganella (pictured top) brought shame on Switzerland, where FIFA is based, and had his Olympic accreditation withdrawn after posting a racist message on social networking site Twitter.
The message, put on Twitter after Switzerland were beaten 2-1 by South Korea on Sunday (July 29), has since been withdrawn but although Morganella, 23, has apologised, an angry Blatter said no other action could have been taken – and hinted his compatriot, who comes from the same Valais region of the country as the 75-year-old FIFA boss, could face a life ban.
“It’s embarrassing for the whole football family,” said Blatter, at the Games both in his capacity as FIFA President and as a member of the International Olympic Committee.
“And it’s embarrassing for the Olympic Games.”
Asked what sanction should be taken, Blatter replied: “That’s up to the Swiss Football Association.
“They have to deal with this case and then, I’m sure, they will transmit it to us because this was an international match.”
Blatter was speaking just before tonight’s showpiece Olympic women’s game between Brazil and Great Britain, here at Wembley, having taken centre stage at an official ceremony marking a new partnership of co-operation between FIFA and Britain’s Kick It Out campaign.
With the John Terry-Anton Ferdinand racism case (Terry pictured below, arriving at court) showing no sign of being forgotten, Blatter told reporters he was still concerned about instances of discrimination, especially at the end of games, and that football could learn from the Olympics.
“At the beginning of the game it’s okay in football but at the end of the game there are still problems bringing players together because the losing team will not come to shake hands which is a pity,” he said.
“At the Olympics, at those games I have seen, everyone has come together at the end.
“But in general I could make a comparison between men’s and women’s football in the sense that with the women simulation is non-existent.
“They do not simply lie down and say they are injured.”
In what was perhaps a leading question given the high-profile case in England, Blatter was asked whether FIFA could ban for life players found guilty of racism.
“If the national federation asked us for a worldwide ban, we would do it automatically,” he said.
“But we would not take the initiative.”
Only last November, Blatter (pictured below) fell out spectacularly with anti-discrimination groups when he claimed football had no problem with racism and that any issues should be settled with a handshake at the end of the match.
His apparent lax attitude drew criticism from those both inside and outside the game, even prompting calls for his resignation.
Kick It Out itself said his comments were worryingly out of touch.
Blatter’s clumsy attempts to back-track had little effect but how times change.
He was given prolonged applause at tonight’s ceremony after a passionate anti-racism speech during which he even removed his glasses to get his point across.
The ceremony was hosted by Kick It Out chairman Lord Ouseley and attended by, among others, FIFA’s first female executive committee member Lydia Nsekera and Football Association chairman David Bernstein.
Both Ouseley and Bernstein admitted relations in the past with FIFA had not always been cordial.
Cynics might now suggest the reason for the volte-face is that FIFA is presumably making a financial contribution – although the sum was not revealed.
Blatter told his audience that suggestions he himself had racist tendencies had hurt him deeply.
“It touched me very, very much in my heart to be told I was a racist,” he said.
“We want to launch this co-operation because you can never stop fighting against discrimination.
“We are doing a lot but it’s not enough.”
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