Blatter Blast for the Greedy
By International Correspondent
October 13 2005
Sepp Blatter has attacked the "pornographic amounts of money" ruining football yesterday. The Fifa president claimed that greed is ruling the game, he also attacked "semi-educated, sometimes foul-mouthed players demanding insane wages" and accused clubs of overcharging fans.
He added that a Fifa task force had been established to deal with the excesses, including corruption and multiple-ownership issues, and condemned "unsavoury agents". He believes it is "simply insane" for any player to earn £6m-£8m a year. He probably had Real and Chelsea in mind when he went on to say "Unlimited cash has given a handful of club owners the wherewithal to control the global game by splashing unimaginable sums on a tiny group of elite players. - More than ever before, the majority is fighting with spears while the greedy few have the financial equivalent of nuclear warheads," Blatter noted that a small number of clubs are richer than ever before, financed by the cash of individuals "with little or no history of interest in the game". "Having set foot in the sport seemingly out of nowhere, they proceed to throw pornographic amounts of money at it," Blatter said in the Financial Times, and described football’s economy as a "misguided wild-west style of capitalism". "The whole market has been distorted by Abramovich's money - the Premiership has been turned from a two-horse race into a one-horse race. It is one of the least competitive leagues in Europe, but one of the most expensive to watch." "Many of the clubs now in trust ownership were born out of the financial turmoil and mismanagement he describes, and it was left to the supporters to secure the future for the long-term benefit of the community," he said. A spokesman for Chelsea said they would not be making any comment on Blatter's statement. Blatter’s will be taking listeners' questions on a Radio Five Live phone-in from 8pm this evening. Available on the internet.