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BLATTER

Maradona: Swiss Fifa chief Blatter is a dictator

Argentina legend Diego Maradona has attacked world football chief Sepp Blatter, calling the 79-year-old Swiss "a dictator" and claiming his bid for a fifth term as Fifa president is "an absurdity".

Maradona: Swiss Fifa chief Blatter is a dictator
Diego Armando Maradona plays the ball during the inter-religious "match for peace" in Rome's Olympic Stadium on September 1st 2014. Photo: AFP

Maradona's scathing personal attack in The Daily Telegraph comes days before Blatter seeks an unprecedented fifth term at the helm of football's governing body.

Blatter is in a two horse race to continue in the post he assumed in 1998 – the only other candidate being Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan after Luis Figo and Michael van Praag pulled out last week.

Blatter has been widely criticised during his reign and Maradona is aghast that he is the overwhelming favourite to retain his position.

The 1986 World Cup winner told The Telegraph: “Under Sepp Blatter, Fifa has become a disgrace and a painful embarrassment to those of us who care about football deeply.

“While I find almost no one openly supporting Blatter, many think he will win a fifth term. Why? The whole notion of a fifth term is an absurdity in 2015.

“No one has argued that he is the best man for the job and deserves to win.    

“Recently he pledged to follow through in addressing racism in football and promoting women in the sport. That made me laugh. My question is: 'Sepp, what were you doing in your last four terms?'

“We have a dictator for life. I call Blatter 'the man of ice' because he lacks the inspiration and passion that are at the very heart of football. If this is the face of international football, we are in a very bad place.”

The election takes place at the Fifa Congress in Zurich on Friday, with the winner needing a majority from Fifa's 209 member federations.

Blatter has received strong public backing from nearly every regional confederation except Europe's Uefa.

But the football strongman's fourth term has been overshadowed by controversy, not least over the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

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FOOTBALL

Former FIFA president Blatter says he is going to World Cup

FIFA's disgraced ex-president Sepp Blatter has told AFP he will go to next year's World Cup in Russia at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, despite being banned from football.

Former FIFA president Blatter says he is going to World Cup
File photo: Michael Buholzer/AFP

“I will go to the World Cup in Russia. I received an invitation fromPresident Putin,” the 81-year-old Swiss said in an interview.

Blatter said Michel Platini, the ex-UEFA president who is banned from football over corruption, had also been invited to the tournament by Putin.

But according to one of his close allies Platini “hasn't received an invitation from Putin to go to the World Cup and doesn't know what he will be doing next summer”.

Blatter, who led world football's governing body for 17 years, was thrown out of the sport in 2015 at the height of a massive corruption scandal.

FIFA's ethics committee has suspended him from all football-related activities for six years after finding him guilty of accepting an improper 2 million Swiss franc ($2.1 million, 1.8 million euros) payment from then-UEFA chief Platini.

But the ever-defiant Blatter said he had no plans to miss the World Cup, an event he has habitually attended since going to work at FIFA in the 1970s.

“I don't know how long I will go for, whether I will be there for the opening match or the final,” he said during the interview in Zurich.

“Because I can't work in football and I don't have an assignment to do, maybe I will only make a short visit.”

Blatter is also the target of an investigation by Swiss prosecutors over alleged criminal mismanagement at FIFA and the infamous Platini payment.

Switzerland has ongoing probes into the 2018 World Cup, including possible bribery and corruption that may have led to Russia winning hosting rights.

“I'm sure that World Cup 2018 will be a great World Cup. Russia has to show that it can welcome the whole world. It's a big challenge,” Blatter said.

It was not immediately clear how the FIFA ban would impact Blatter's attendance at matches or events.

Platini, banned from football for four years, was allowed to attend Euro 2016 matches in his native France, provided he played no official role.