Sepp Blatter, disgraced former FIFA CEO, has remarkably claimed that he’s aware of high profile UEFA draws which have been fixed.
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Blatter says no draw for any Federation Internationale de Football Association event had ever been fixed in his 18 years in charge but that the same could not be said about European competitions back in the 1970s and 80s, though he didn’t identify them.
Blatter also spoke in the wide-ranging interview about the former head of the Argentine Football Association, the late Julio Grondona, whom he called ‘a good, lovable person’.
The 80-year-old has been quoted by a Swiss newspaper as saying that certain balls denoting the teams in the draw were either “warmed” or “cooled” so they could be distinguished from others in the pot.
“Of course it’s possible that they can be signalled, by heating or cooling them”.
Earlier this month it was alleged that former top Federation Internationale de Football Association officials including Blatter, Jerome Valcke and Markus Kattner awarded themselves pay raises and World Cup related bonuses totalling $80 million during their last five years in office.
“It didn’t exist at Federation Internationale de Football Association, but I was a witness at draws, at a European level, where that happened. The moment you touch them you know”.
Fans on the end of a bum cup draw will often claim the balls must be being heated up to sway the outcome of the draw.
Blatter went on to say that he was never directly involved in the alleged cheating, despite being witness to it. The draw was honest down to the last detail.
“Blatter isn’t corrupt. They tried to find something on me, but they won’t find any (evidence) I violated any Swiss law”, he said.
He added: “They aren’t going to find anything on me. Only men are.” Which, if we believe him (we don’t) then Blatter’s balls were always at room temperature.
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Blatter refused to elaborate on which competitions had been rigged, but offered an explanation to the process.
