By Mark Baber
September 2 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has warned urgently against the Swiss 1:12 initiative which he says would create a real problem for football in the country and the hinder the possibility of attracting talent from abroad, in an interview with the newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag.
The 1:12 referendum, is the result of the 1:12 Initiative for Fair Pay backed by the Young Socialists, which advocates that no one in a company should earn more in one month than the lowest-paid employee earns in a year. In 2011 the top salaries at the largest Swiss companies stood at a ratio of 1:93. A poll has shown 49.5% of respondents in favour of the initiative which goes to the vote in November.
Although Blatter would not be drawn on whether FIFA would move its headquarters from Switzerland if the initiative was passed, he commented: “Nevertheless, I do not see the point of this wage limit: Why 1:12? Why not 1:10 or 1:20? The world would shake his head if such a restrictive referendum initiative was passed in the economic paradise of Switzerland.”
In his remarks, Blatter also reportedly hinted that he would be running again for the position of FIFA president due to the reforms which are being brought into the organisation in 2014 and because he would have “Nothing else to do.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734789566labto1734789566ofdlr1734789566owedi1734789566sni@r1734789566ebab.1734789566kram1734789566