It’s been more than three years since Sepp Blatter’s ignominious exit from FIFA, but the Swiss former soccer executive is still upset at how things went down in 2015.
He’s so upset, in fact, that he’s willing to go to court to get his way.
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In an interview with AFP, Blatter said “I want to sue him,” referring to current FIFA president Gianni Infantino, for damaging Blatter’s reputation and emotional state. Blatter said he wants FIFA to admit that it had “hurt” him, and said that he’d be filing his lawsuit shortly.
“Both me and my family, my entire entourage, by saying that this guy was using (FIFA) like a piggy bank,” Blatter told AFP, referring to himself as “this guy. “This is a question of honor.”
In addition, Blatter lashed out at Infantino, saying he spoke about how he would bring transparency to FIFA, but Blatter feels he hasn’t delivered on that campaign promise.
Sepp Blatter resigned in disgrace in June 2015, just a couple of days after winning yet another term from FIFA member states despite a long-running corruption scandal. Blatter is alleged to have not only made payments off the books to other FIFA members, but there is a current Swiss investigation into a $12 million payment to himself from FIFA’s accounts after the 2014 World Cup. The spotlight had been on FIFA ever since 2010, when Russia and Qatar, two of the lowest-rated bids to apply, ended up winning the rights to host the 2018 and 2022 Men’s World Cups.
It’s clear that Blatter has learned nothing since he resigned, or when FIFA imposed an eight-year ban on soccer activities for him, which was later reduced to six years. Blatter should go away and not be heard from again, as he’s the face of an organization that was backwards, political and overly money-hungry.
Infantino will likely settle with Blatter out of court, and the two will go their separate ways. Hopefully FIFA will move towards being a more progressive, forward-thinking organization.