By Andrew Warshaw
July 28 – Far from being in any way responsible for the corruption crisis that has embroiled FIFA, Sepp Blatter in fact deserves the Nobel Peace prize for the way he has run the organisation, according to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
In an interview with a Swiss broadcaster that starkly illustrated his special relationship with FIFA, and Blatter in particular, as a result of country being awarded the 2018 World Cup, Putin said he believed the outgoing FIFA boss was clean and should be rewarded for the work he has done over the last 17 years.
“I think people like Mr. Blatter, the leaders of international sports federations or Olympic committees, deserve special recognition,” Putin told RTS. “If anyone deserves the Nobel Prize, those people do.”
“We’re all aware of the situation surrounding Mr. Blatter at the moment. I don’t want to get into the details, but I don’t believe a word about his being involved in corruption personally.”
It was no co-incidence that Putin’s comments came just days after he and Blatter indulged in a mutual back-slapping love-in on stage at the preliminary draw for the World Cup in St. Petersburg. Blatter informed Putin at the time that FIFA had passed a resolution supporting Russia’s 2018 credentials despite its record on racism and the military intervention in Ukraine.
Blatter has denied any wrongdoing but has nevertheless decided to step down next February. More immediately, FIFA has invited its increasingly restless sponsors to an emergency summit next month to re-assure them that genuine reform will be put in place as a result of the separate corruption investigations by authorities in the United States and Switzerland.
In the interview with RTS, Putin renewed his criticism of US authorities’ efforts to pursue FIFA officials around the globe, suggesting it was linked to the December 2010, World Cup ballot that saw odds-on favourites the United States beaten by Qatar for 2022 and England, a close ally of the United States, losing out to Russia for 2018.
“The way this fight against corruption is being conducted leads me to wonder if it’s not a continuation of the fight for the 2018 and 2022 championships,” he said.
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