Sepp Blatter questions Lionel Messis Golden Ball and distances himself from vote Fifa president aligns himself with those who think the Argentina captain was not the tournaments best player and admits sympathy for Luis Suárez Sepp Blatter has joined the critics of Lionel Messs Golden Ball award, an utterly out of character spot of politicking. Fifa is considering changing the voting procedure for the Golden Ball after the controversy surrounding the honour of the World Cup’s best player being awarded to Lionel Messi. “Shall I be diplomatic or tell you the truth?’’ said Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, after being asked about why the Fifas technical study group voted for a player whose achievements were comfortably eclipsed by the likes of James Rodríguez, Thomas Müller and Toni Kroos, amongst others. “Listen, I was myself a little bit surprised when I saw Messi coming up for the Golden Ball,’’ said Blatter. “But look at the goals scored by Messi in the different (group-stage) matches. They were decisive.’’ The award used to be voted in conjunction with the media and that may be resumed after the fall-out from this award. “There was a long discussion,’’ said a Fifa spokesman. The decision was by the technical study group. Maybe it will change again. Maybe it will not have so much weight given to the technical group. We’re open to suggestions. You can make your own opinion on Messi.’’ The Fifa president also admits to feeling some sympathy for Luis Suárez, who has started a four-month ban from all football activity after biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini. Suárez has been sold by Liverpool to Barcelona. “Concerning Suárez, as a footballer myself, I feel for him,’’ said Blatter, 78. “I feel such a punishment hurts, it hurts. But as president of Fifa I have to accept the decisions taken by independent committee. It is not like the past when we had designated committees and could tell them what to do. We are now in this democratic system with independent jurisdiction in Fifa. “I hope this player will come back to football because, on the pitch, he showed before his elimination his capacity, technical and tactical, and smelling the goal with two great goals. He will be back. He’s now at one of greatest clubs in the world and he will confirm his position (as a top player). Source: The Telegraph Online
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 10:40:21 +0000
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