Aug
11
FIFA president Sepp Blatter is continuing his fight with the clubs over under-23 players and the Olympics. In fact, he is going as far as to vow that by 2012 he will have a rule in place by FIFA’s Congress that requires all clubs to release u-23 players for the Olympics.
It may take some work to make Blatter’s promise come true because just last Wednesday, the clubs were handed the power to refuse the release of any player. The president expressed his discontent with the move, suggesting that the Olympic soccer tournament was at stake because of it. He is calling it the worst thing that has happened since he took the presidency, but he isn’t taking it sitting down.
Blatter criticized the clubs for jeopardizing the great games, just to have their players in games that probably won’t mean too much for the team in the long run. He was even more upset with those clubs who suggested that they be paid for the release of the players, saying that they are getting too greedy.
Despite Wednesday’s ruling in favor of the clubs, Linoel Messi, Diego, and Rafinha, the three big names involved in the dispute this year, are going to stay in Beijing for the rest of the games. So for now Blatter does have something going for him.