Sepp Blatter - 'Kin Idiot

Sepp Blatter, FIFA President is at again, knocking the Premier League. He resents the success of the domestic game in England at the highest level and is always looking for ways to weaken it.

His latest outburst is that "something needs to be done about these billionaire owners." He doesn't say what exactly but asks the European Union to act, knowing that there is absolutely nothing they can or would do, when money talks. "This is not just about England" he he says in his defence, but many of his outbursts are just about England and this one is another albeit thinly disguised. His justification is that these billionaires might not be "interested in the game and are just making money." 

Just making money? With the exception of the most successful club in this era (Manchester United), the rest have simply ploughed hundreds of millions into their clubs, sums which massively outweigh the success at Old Trafford.  Spurs immediately spring to mind. Can anyone see the Abu Dhabi's turning a profit anytime soon at Eastlands? No, it's just another cheap and bitter shot at the English by another one of football's governing dinosaurs. Blatter has been wrapped up in FIFA for 30 odd years and the dictatorial President for 10 years. The FIFA organisation reeks of corruption and hypocrisy typified by Mr Blatter.

I am no fan of the billionaire owners myself as there is simply too much money coming into the game which is creating an obnoxious playing elite but whining about English clubs again is not the answer. This is the man remember, who thinks Ronaldo was being treated like a slave by the billionaire owners at Old Trafford because they held him to his contract instead of letting him jump ship to Real Madrid. FIFA have the power to do something to address all this but Blatter would rather put the responsibility at someone elses door.  I suspect what really irks him, beyond the fact that it's the biggest English clubs who are prospering, is that the billionaires undermine his authority don't see the need to grease the FIFA pole. 

The current world financial turmoil may well end up cooling down the football market but we still live in a world dominated by a global economy driven by profit and if individuals choose to spend their fortunes playing football club owners, then I can't see any way they can be prevented from spending their money this way. Money has always influenced the fortunes of football clubs, it's just that this has become more intense in the last twenty years as individuals have amassed greater fortunes and football, and the Premier league in particular, has become a global sporting phenomenon.

Any fan who wouldn't welcome more money on their clubs' board isn't being honest or would simply be better off following amateur football.