Sepp Blatter expressed as much bonhomie as he could towards English football yesterday, but it still seemed that he was on enemy territory. The Fifa president recalled meeting Sir Bobby Charlton in 1955, when the latter was a Manchester United prodigy at a youth tournament in Zurich. Blatter, of course, cannot express such a flawless affinity with the game as it now exists in England.
He presented United with a badge to wear on their jersey marking the victory in the Fifa Club World Cup final last December. It may, however, be seen solely in the Champions League. The Premier League will not allow the players to sport it in their matches. They deem the badge to be out of place in a domestic competition.
This trivia reflects more serious divisions. Blatter brought with him the legal opinion that states Fifa could impose the "six plus five" rule that would insist on a majority of native footballers in club sides. This would be phased in gradually, but the Premier League are adamant that the European Commission will deem any such arrangement illegal. The League's chief executive Richard Scudamore will meet Blatter in the next few weeks.
Blatter appreciates the success of the League while deploring the weakening of the ties to the community that were once characteristic of English teams. "If there is no more national identity in a club then something is wrong," he said. Conversely, and somewhat confusingly, Blatter could not bring himself to rail against foreign owners.
"I have met people around [the Liverpool co-proprietor] George Gillett," he said. "I can only thank them for bringing money to football." Blatter was enthusiastic, too, over the suggestion that David Beckham may one day buy an MLS club.
There were several reforms that the Fifa president would like to make in the domestic game. He is unhappy that so many young players are brought to Europe from other continents before swiftly gaining citizenship that brings caps for their adopted countries. He aims, for football purposes, to make them wait for five years beyond their 18th birthday. Blatter is hostile, as well, to the recruitment of overseas players to youth development programmes while they are in their mid-teens.
While his antagonism is expressed towards club culture at large, the Premier League embodies it with particular intensity. If there was encouragement here it lay in a cordial attitude towards England's 2018 World Cup bid. "I still think England has a very strong bid," he said, even though 11 contenders for the tournament in 2018 or 2022 are anticipated.
A European rival such as Spain would be disadvantaged if it insists on proceeding with Portugal in a joint bid. Fifa have no enthusiasm for the high costs and fraught logistics of staging the tournament in two countries. However, Spain will have the option of ditching Portugal until a deadline of 10 May next year.
