Sepp Blatter embroiled in row over German host claims
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has sent a letter to Germany’s Bild newspaper to clarify remarks he made in Switzerland’s Blick newspaper at the weekend, in which he appeared to insinuate that Germany had only become the hosts of the 2006 World Cup due to malpractice.
Blatter said that the voting procedure that eventually saw Germany awarded the tournament by just one vote was suspicious since one delegate left the room before votes were cast.
However, he has now explained that what he meant by that is not that he felt the vote was rigged, but that there is “always a reason to find some kind of conspiracy theory”. “What I meant to say was that you can always find a smokescreen to doubt the legitimacy of a decision,” he wrote. “When asked if I suspected that the 2006 World Cup had been bought, I responded: ‘No, I don’t presume anything, I am stating facts and this means that somebody did indeed leave the room during the vote, which Germany won by one vote. That is the main point I was making.”
Nevertheless, Blatter’s remarks have caused outrage in Germany with politicians calling for him to have his Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany revoked. He received the accolade in 2006 for his services to the country, having awarded Germany the World Cup,
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