Beleaguered Blatter highlights conflict with 2014 World Cup figureheads

By Andrew Warshaw

November 16 – Sepp Blatter, already under fire over his comments about racism in football, has also taken Brazil to task over personality clashes between the Government and 2014 World Cup organisers.

In a television interview, Blatter admitted a number of issues were far from resolved before urging the authorities to settle their differences.

“There are some problems on different levels,” he said.

“Governmental guarantees…have to pass by decree to the congress or to parliament and this has not yet been done.”

Blatter’s number two, Jérôme Valcke, has made a number of trouble-shooting visits to Brazil in recent months but rarely has he got involved in personalities.

That has been left to Blatter who, in a CNN interview, referred specifically to the notoriously frosty relationship between President Dilma Rousseff and controversial organising committee boss Ricardo Teixeira, the Brazilian footballing figurehead.

“Then there’s another problem, it’s a personal problem obviously between the President of the country and the President of football,” said Blatter.

Teixeira, a member of the FIFA executive committee, is under investigation for alleged money laundering and reports in Brazil claim that FIFA has asked Rousseff to have him removed.

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