Sepp Blatter thinks 'idiots' run English football

[bapa]

FIFA President Sepp Blatter once described English soccer as being "run by idiots", according to Sebastian Coe.
Coe, who headed the London Olympics, worked with Blatter as chairman of FIFA's ethics committee before taking a role with England's failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Russia won the hosting rights after England's bid attracted only two votes following Blatter voicing concerns about English media intrusion into the FIFA executive committee.

In his new autobiography, Coe claims that Blatter has "always had a problem" with English soccer.
"From his perspective, it's not hard to understand," Coe writes in an extract published by The Times of London newspaper.

"As president of an international federation, he sees the unwillingness of English clubs to release players for international duty. He sees the purchasing power of the English game - big-name clubs buying up players from all over the world.

"And he sees a national federation that, at the time of the bid, had no chairman or chief executive. And then he sees our press, permanently focusing on his organisation."
Ahead of the FIFA vote, English Football Association chairman David Triesman was forced to quit after covert recordings of him making accusations about rival bidders were published by a newspaper. That came shortly after FA chief executive Ian Watmore quit following a power struggle.

"Your game is run by idiots. It's not run by bright people," Coe recalls Blatter once saying to him, without naming any individuals.
The power struggles in the English game frustrated Coe, who said "internecine warfare at home" hampered the World Cup bid.

"The fault, I believe, lies with the awful dysfunctionality of the English game, its personalities and its politics," Coe said. "First, you have the FA, which is the regulatory body. Then you have the Premier League, effectively the creation of Sky TV and (Rupert) Murdoch money, and we're talking billions here.
"Then you have the big clubs and the moguls, including (Roman) Abramovich at Chelsea and the Glazers at Manchester United, not forgetting the big-beast managers, such as Alex Ferguson (United) and Arsene Wenger (Arsenal). This has always been a very uncomfortable set of relationships, at best strained. The fact that they didn't trust each other and didn't much like each other was a problem."

Coe is now a vice president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, and is due to become British Olympic Association chairman next month

[Rob Lozza]

FIFA President Sepp Blatter once described English soccer as being "run by idiots", according to Sebastian Coe.
Coe, who headed the London Olympics, worked with Blatter as chairman of FIFA's ethics committee before taking a role with England's failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Russia won the hosting rights after England's bid attracted only two votes following Blatter voicing concerns about English media intrusion into the FIFA executive committee.

In his new autobiography, Coe claims that Blatter has "always had a problem" with English soccer.
"From his perspective, it's not hard to understand," Coe writes in an extract published by The Times of London newspaper.

"As president of an international federation, he sees the unwillingness of English clubs to release players for international duty. He sees the purchasing power of the English game - big-name clubs buying up players from all over the world.

"And he sees a national federation that, at the time of the bid, had no chairman or chief executive. And then he sees our press, permanently focusing on his organisation."
Ahead of the FIFA vote, English Football Association chairman David Triesman was forced to quit after covert recordings of him making accusations about rival bidders were published by a newspaper. That came shortly after FA chief executive Ian Watmore quit following a power struggle.

"Your game is run by idiots. It's not run by bright people," Coe recalls Blatter once saying to him, without naming any individuals.
The power struggles in the English game frustrated Coe, who said "internecine warfare at home" hampered the World Cup bid.

"The fault, I believe, lies with the awful dysfunctionality of the English game, its personalities and its politics," Coe said. "First, you have the FA, which is the regulatory body. Then you have the Premier League, effectively the creation of Sky TV and (Rupert) Murdoch money, and we're talking billions here.
"Then you have the big clubs and the moguls, including (Roman) Abramovich at Chelsea and the Glazers at Manchester United, not forgetting the big-beast managers, such as Alex Ferguson (United) and Arsene Wenger (Arsenal). This has always been a very uncomfortable set of relationships, at best strained. The fact that they didn't trust each other and didn't much like each other was a problem."

Coe is now a vice president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, and is due to become British Olympic Association chairman next month

If quoted correctly then it is Blatter who is the IDIOT. Everything he has allegedly mentioned about English football clubs, competitions and their adminstrations is NO DIFFERENT to that in Italy, Spain and possibly Germany. He appears to have conveniently forgotton about AC Milan and Berlusconi, Juventus and the Agnelli family, Real Madrid and Barcelona with their egotistical owners/presidents and managers.

[Chade]

If quoted correctly then it is Blatter who is the IDIOT. Everything he has allegedly mentioned about English football clubs, competitions and their adminstrations is NO DIFFERENT to that in Italy, Spain and possibly Germany. He appears to have conveniently forgotton about AC Milan and Berlusconi, Juventus and the Agnelli family, Real Madrid and Barcelona with their egotistical owners/presidents and managers.

Except those countries you've mentioned have either hosted the World Cup, or won it or the Euros in the last 10-15 years.

[DOC]

but idiots do run english football, its just that bigger idiots run uefa and fifa

[Old Master]

BLATTER IS RIGHT IN WHAT HE SAYS ABOUT IDIOTS RUNNING THE GAME - IT EXTENDS ALL THE WAY UP TO THE HEAD OF FIFA TOO!

[Litmanen]

but idiots do run english football, its just that bigger idiots run uefa and fifa

No truer words have been spoken.

[ozzie owl]

but idiots do run english football, its just that bigger idiots run uefa and fifa

No truer words have been spoken.

Amazing Blatter critisizing administrators, has he looked at FIFA lately?

[ruud]

hrm cause sepp blatter isnt an idiot is he?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvMPXwqTMto

[God is an Englishman]

but idiots do run english football, its just that bigger idiots run uefa and fifa

I really hate it when I agree with DOC.

[ozzie owl]

Problem in England is that three bodies involved in running the game all with different agendas, The FA, The Premier League and The Football League, time to streamline?

[God is an Englishman]

Problem in England is that three bodies involved in running the game all with different agendas, The FA, The Premier League and The Football League, time to streamline?

It's the FA Premier League, so there's only 2 at that level. All the way through the English league pyramid the leagues are run as seperate entities and it workd perfectly fine.

If you'd played football in England any time recently then you would know how this works and see that there is absolutely no problem with the set up. The Football League run no differently to the Kent Football League.

[Old Master]

The only problem is with the coaching system - it's still stuck in the 1930's.

[ozzie owl]

Sadly the game is run by the agenda of the big EPL sides.