SEP BLATTER INTERVIEW - Wednesday 4th June, 2008
TRANSCRIPT
Last week, the peak body of international football, FIFA, held its
Annual Congress in Sydney, a first for Australia, compared with
soccer's royalty from Europe and South America, still a developing
Third World nation. It may surprise non-football types out there, but
for what is essentially a sporting body, off the field, 208
nation-strong FIFA has serious clout in areas such as racism and child
labour, in terms of influence, right up there with the International
Olympic Committee. So much so, that Joseph 'Sepp' Blatter, the FIFA
President, is arguably among a handful of the world's most powerful
individuals. If you're one of those who believes sport and politics
shouldn't be mixed, this interview with the Swiss-born boss of the
world game will definitely raise an eyebrow.
GEORGE NEGUS: Mr Blatter, thanks for your time. I've travelled
the
world a lot, but two things I know I'm going to see, wherever I go, is
Coca-Cola, which we may or may not really need, and kids kicking
footballs around. Not even football sometimes - rolled up bits of
string and paper. Is it bigger than any religion and ideology in the
world - there are people who would think that?
SEPP BLATTER, FIFA PRESIDENT: No it is, it is, and I'm not
immodest if
I say that because we are not touched by religion. All religions, they
play football - even nowadays all girls and women have the right to
play football in cultures like the Arabic countries in the Muslim they
play football. Not all in public, but they play football and football
is over any ideology because the only ideology we have in football is
to touch the world with our game. And how can you touch the world with
our game?
GEORGE NEGUS: How do you explain that, I mean were calling
this not a
sport but a phenomenon? What characteristic is it that football's got,
makes it have this influence, if you believe it has?
SEPP BLATTER: First of all, football is hope. Football is
hope. Let me
just explain. To be a better human being but also hope one day, one
day, to leave your country to be somewhere, let's say admired, as a
football star. And what is football producing that is so important and
what we need in our world? Emotions. And then the other factor of our
game is then because it's so game is so popular everybody wants to play
it. And we have football matches organised in all countries, everywhere
- they want to play, they want to play this game - it is more than
touching a ball.
GEORGE NEGUS: It must get dangerously close to politics on
occasions.
SEPP BLATTER: Absolutely.
GEORGE NEGUS: Let me try a couple of political aspects of
FIFA's role
with you. Palestine, not recognised by the United Nations, is an
affiliate and a member of FIFA and plays in the World Cup qualification
matches. That's a political statement.
SEPP BLATTER: That is a political statement, and the political
statement only goes so far - that we shall not intervene in any
matters. But without our intervention, two words to the authorities in
Israel. It would not have been feasible, that the Palestinians can
leave the country, go to different checkpoints to go and play
international matches outside of Palestine and what we are trying to do
now is that one day we'll try to organise an international match in
Palestine.
GEORGE NEGUS: In Palestine, which officially doesn't exist?
SEPP BLATTER: The territories in Palestine.
GEORGE NEGUS: In occupied territory - would you regard that as
a
political achievement?
SEPP BLATTER: No, I would say this would be a sport's
achievement, an
achievement that football can overcome boundaries of politicians.
GEORGE NEGUS: So when people say that sports and politics
don't mix,
you obviously disagree - you think that they do mix?
SEPP BLATTER: They have to mix, they have to mix because of
the
tremendous development of the game and our involvement now also. My
predecessor always has said, “we don't want to have anything
to do with the United Nations.” I did the contrary. As soon
as I became the president, we signed a memorandum of understanding with
Mr Kofi Anan in June - in May 1999 - and the United Nations flag is now
in all FIFA competitions - we have also this blue flag with the United
Nations.
GEORGE NEGUS: There is a lot of controversy in the world at
the moment
about China and the Olympic games, human rights, Tibet, etcetera, the
fiasco over the torch relay. If China was applying to hold the next
World Cup, in the current climate do you think they should hold the
World Cup?
SEPP BLATTER: If they correspond to the list of requirements
of FIFA
then they should, because...
GEORGE NEGUS: Would that include things like human rights?
SEPP BLATTER: No. Otherwise we can give the World Cup to
nobody.
GEORGE NEGUS: I see.
SEPP BLATTER: If you go to the essence of human rights?
GEORGE NEGUS: Even in Australia?
SEPP BLATTER: No, not even my country, Switzerland. Any
country if you
go really, really in depth somewhere, the human rights are not totally
respected.
GEORGE NEGUS: Do you think the world could have applied more
pressure?
Would you, for instance, as the head of FIFA, if you were in the same
situation, apply more pressure on China than has been applied to get
them to abide by the human rights agreement that they made at the time.
Do you consider the situation in Tibet?
SEPP BLATTER: Yeah, I have considered the situation in Tibet
was well
known also at the time when the Olympic Games were given to China and
would at that time the IOC would have said, “Listen, we gave
you, or we attribute the Olympic Games under the condition that in the
next six months or in a year you will solve the problem of the right of
the Tibet.” But they haven't done it, we haven't done it. But
now to say we should not go there or we should have done this or that
and at the same time the big nations in the world, the big seven or the
big eight, they make a lot of trade, industry and commerce with China
by selling or by producing in China and a lot of delegations travelling
there still.
GEORGE NEGUS: Hypocrisy then - it's double standards.
SEPP BLATTER: It is hypocrisy.
GEORGE NEGUS: You've had campaigns in a lot of areas,
humanitarian,
social areas, like anti-child labour, anti-racism. How successful do
you think you've been in shifting world opinion and world activity on
those sorts of issues?
SEPP BLATTER: Discrimination or racism, I think we have made a
lot of
progress. But we can only make progress if our national associations
and the clubs, where such situations occur, that they intervene.
GEORGE NEGUS: Are there countries in the world where they
ignore these
kinds of attempts to change?
SEPP BLATTER: No, but to intervene, it means what they have to
do, and
this is the only way, is to deduct points in the match where you have
identified the origin or the - let's say the responsibility - or even
to exclude from a competition, which EUFA did last season with one of
the teams from Holland of discrimination.
GEORGE NEGUS: Despite all these admirable, high-minded
motivations and
intentions, continually though, there are these allegations of
corruption. People say that you run the team for your own private
fiefdom, for instance. Allegations of corruption against yourself over
the years.
SEPP BLATTER: Yeah, but we can not be more open than we are.
GEORGE NEGUS: So why are there so many allegations, do you
think?
SEPP BLATTER: Because there are obsessed people in the world,
and
coming from the media one day, there are barking dogs, they try to get
the bone. They try to get that bone for whatever reasons. I'm happy to
speak with you also about the corruption and the personal attack, but I
cannot understand this ongoing, ongoing attacks, because that would
also be in the evidence and would I feel guilty, then I would say go to
the congress and say, "Sorry, I misled you." But it's nothing. That's
it, it's nothing.
GEORGE NEGUS: It's good to talk to you. I hope you enjoy your
stay in
this country.