Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter is still in the middle of an eight-year ban from the organization he once ran.
But that doesn’t mean he’s going to miss out on some of the World Cup action, live in Russia.
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BBC journalist Richard Conway reported early Tuesday that Blatter is set to watch Portugal vs. Morocco in Moscow as a guest of Russian president Vladimir Putin. The 82-year-old would normally not be able to sit in the presidential box due to his FIFA ban, though he likely could attend matches with a regular ticket like the vast majority of soccer fans.
Sepp Blatter, despite currently being banned from football, will attend Portugal v Morocco in Moscow tomorrow his spokesman tells me.
— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) June 19, 2018
The former Fifa president has an open invite from Vladimir Putin to attend the tournament.#worldcup
Just four years ago, Blatter was president during the 2014 World Cup, one that was marred by corruption scandals in addition to the corruption scandals surrounding the World Cup bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
His reign of power at FIFA finally came to an end on June 2, 2015, when he resigned following an embarrassing month for FIFA in which many of its members were arrested in a joint-raid between the Swiss authorities and the FBI.
Blatter was eventually handed an eight-year ban from FIFA’s ethics committee for an “unauthorized payment” of $2 million from Blatter to Michel Platini, the former France star and FIFA vice president who was also handed an eight-year suspension.
