This time, for once, FIFA president Sepp Blatter may just have done the right thing. The head of the football governing body says that he is against the Premier League’s proposal of playing a certain number of Premiership matches abroad and has pledged to see that the move to withered to ashes in no time.
Blatter says:
We will make a decision on 14th March at the meeting of Fifa’s executive committee. We will say the national associations must not accept it. We must maintain football as a sport. It is not a show, or the Harlem Globetrotters, or a circus act. There is not any chance at all of me changing my mind. My mind is made up.
Sorry guys, but the huge ambition of the Premier League is now off. Oh, Blatter also says something about England’s 2018 World Cup bid:
If Mr Scudamore says this will help England’s World Cup bid let him say it. There are many candidates for 2018. I can’t imagine when you go against the decision-making body for the World Cup with an initiative that will not be accepted by that body, that it will enhance your chances. It will not be diplomatic. If you don’t accept the authority of Fifa then you can’t expect to win favour.
Uh-oh…..seems like the new proposals are actually inflicting wounds on England instead of helping.