Blatter keen to tackle racists
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called for clubs and countries found guilty of having racist fans to be deducted points instead of being fined.
Incidents of black players being targeted by fans have risen in the past year but, although Blatter wants to see a clampdown, there will be no such punishments introduced for next year’s World Cup in Germany.
He argued the short time-span of the competition would mean any penalty would unduly penalise a country and it could be open to abuse by opposition supporters.
“You have to lose points. A fine is not good enough because there is too much money in football,” he said.
“It is only when you touch a club or federation of a national team by deducting points [the punishment is effective].
“But the World Cup is a tournament which is played in a very short period. It is not a national championship or a league where you play 40 or 42 matches and have time to recuperate.
“It would be very dangerous [to introduce it at the World Cup] as if there was some racism in the World Cup you would deduct points but it could be ‘bad’ fans who have organised something to have points deducted.”
However, Blatter told Radio Five Live the use of television evidence could be introduced at the tournament in Germany if a second run of trials of goalline technology at the World Club Championship in Japan later this year proves successful.
He ruled out using replays for any other decision than to decide whether a ball had crossed the goalline, saying it was not appropriate to follow the lead of sports like rugby league.
“I will not compare our sport to other sports. The referee has the right to make mistakes and if you introduce more than goalline technology and stop the game to look at the game it will lose the human face,” he said.
“We have to leave the errors of the coaches, presidents, technical benches, the players and the referees.
“Only goalline technology [will be used] – if the second experiment we carry out in December is successful.
“So far we have had good results but not conclusive results. If they are not conclusive (in Japan) we will not have the technology in 2006.”
Blatter also claimed Sven-Goran Eriksson and Sir Alex Ferguson have to get tough with Wayne Rooney if the player is to become one of the world’s great players.
The England and Manchester United forward has been criticised for his petulant attitude and a lack of discipline which saw him sent off for his club last month and pick up unnecessary bookings at international level.
“When you play at the level he is playing he should be called to order,” said Blatter.
“Definitely his managers should be tougher on him. They should tell him: ‘You are so talented but keep [playing] in the right way’.
“This guy can go for 15 years but self-discipline and respect to the others [is essential].”
The FIFA president continued his blistering attack launched earlier this week on the greed in football, criticising predatory agents.
“Players agents are a danger in our football because they are chasing - hunting – young players, to bring a paper (contract) to them,” he said.
He also wanted to take action to prevent the richest clubs becoming too dominant, claiming he had spoken to an official of West Brom who had told him the club – and others in the Premier League – deliberately fielded weakened sides against the high-fliers.
“They told me a story [that] when his club and other clubs meet Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool, they do not field the best team because they know they will lose,” he said.
“This is not correct, this is something wrong. This is not moral in football. You should have a competition which is open for everyone.”
Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor responded to Blatter’s allegation, saying: “It is sad indictment of West Brom and the Premier League.”
Blatter’s solution to prevent the richest clubs hoarding all the best talent was to put a limit on squad numbers and ensure at least six players from the home country of the club featured in the first XI.
