Blatter's Latin blather
Posted on 12/02/2010Sepp Blatter waded into the John Terry debate yesterday, claiming that in a Latin country the England captain "would have been applauded" for his alleged infidelity. Gabriele Marcotti in The Times was less than impressed.
One of the most common grievances aired at politicians is that they are out of touch.As president of Fifa, Sepp Blatter is the game’s most powerful politician and on Wednesday he showed that, like his colleagues in parliaments throughout the world, he too can appear disconnected from reality.
Especially when there are no Fifa media officers around to rein him in. (Blatter was speaking at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in his capacity as a member of the International Olympic Committee.) When asked about the recent controversy engulfing John Terry, Blatter’s response was as glib and offensive as it was baseless.
Why? Because at the heart of the Terry controversy was not his alleged infidelity, it was that it took place behind the back of an England team-mate and close friend. Had it been just a case of infidelity, public opinion would probably have let things slide: just ask the previous two England managers. This was different. This was seen as some kind of betrayal of trust that could have a negative effect on the performance of the team, and that’s how the debate was framed in England. Evidently, Blatter is oblivious to all that.
Terry has been stripped of his England captaincy by Fabio Capello and vice-captain Rio Ferdinand steps up, and his former West Ham boss and Sun columnist Harry Redknapp has faith in the Manchester United defender's ability to lead the England team to World Cup glory in South Africa.
Rio Ferdinand has three tasks to perform as the new England captain.The first will be to toss the coin at the start of every match at the World Cup finals this summer. The second, I hope and believe, will be to lift the trophy when England are crowned world champions on July 11. And the third - and most importantly - is to be an England captain with class.
Rio is taking over the captaincy in peculiar and unsavoury circumstances from John Terry. Knowing the lad as well as I do I know it's not the way he would have wanted to get the job.
Rio Ferdinand will be a fine captain of captains and if we do go all the way in South Africa don't be surprised if he wipes his dirty hands before picking up the cup - just like Bobby did in 1966.