FIFA's Blatter: Still in Attack Mode

At a ceremony yesterday in Bahrain to inaugurate the Bahrain Football Association’s Goal Project Three, FIFA President Sepp Blatter continued his verbal attacks on those who remain critical of FIFA’s selections to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments. That Blatter would choose to incorporate these attacks into such an event suggests he’s on the offensive in his fight to silence his critics.

Gulf Daily News quoted Blatter as follows:

"Those who criticize do not realize the philosophy of FIFA. Since 1974, FIFA has aimed to make football universal. At that time, the game was more for Europe and South America, and the World Cup was played with 16 teams. But FIFA started to develop football around the world, with youth competitions, women's competitions, club competitions, all on different continents. Now, we are bringing the World Cup to Eastern Europe and the Middle East for the first time. Those critics don't understand what football can do – it is more than a game, and it has social and cultural impact that connects people and brings them together. It is a school of life, and if they don't understand this, then they don't feel football."

There appears to be a significant deceptive character to Blatter’s comments. In our original analysis posted earlier, we surmised that Blatter’s comments may be designed to stave off serious inquiry in order to potentially cover up any improprieties associated with the recent World Cup selection process. His behavior suggests that whatever he’s worried about may be very significant in scope and magnitude, given his continued -- and in this case, seemingly unprompted -- attacks on his critics. Perhaps Blatter is simply a slow learner. We’re reminded of the famous line in Shakespeare’s Hamlet – it appears that Blatter “doth protest too much.”