Fuming Blatter threatens action against AFC

LOS ANGELES, JULY 10: Sepp Blatter, president of football's governing world body Fifa, threatened to punish the Asian Football Confederat...

LOS ANGELES, JULY 10: Sepp Blatter, president of football’s governing world body Fifa, threatened to punish the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) after they had walked out on the Fifa Congress here to protest over the number of Asian places in the 2002 World Cup.

Swiss Blatter said: “I was surprised, then irritated, then shocked. When we get back in the Fifa office, we will discuss what we will do,” he said. “It will be an action on the national associations, who left without any notice. The national associations, who are invited here — their tickets paid for, their hotels paid for, their food paid for. Is that polite ?”

He said: “We shall also identify where the responsibility lies. We have talked to some associations who say they were forced.”

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“It’s a disgrace,” said Blatter, heading his first Congress since his controversial election as Fifa president just over a year ago in Paris.

“It is a shame to leave the Congress,” he fumed. “If it had been one federation, it would have beenthrown out (of Fifa) instantly. There will be consequences. The Fifa is an institution, we will never tolerate blackmail,” he said.

Asia makes up one quarter of the national federations within Fifa and its countries represent more than half of the world’s population.

AFC is upset at being handed only four-and-a-half places at the 2002 World Cup by Fifa. The Asian walkout was a bitter blow to the Fifa president who had appealed directly to the members of the Asian national associations to ignore AFC’s call to leave.

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Velappan stressed that their argument was not with the European federation, who had on Tuesday offered to create the so-called half place — in which an Asian nation will play-off with a European nation for a berth. “It’s a magnanimous offer on the part of Europe. We expect the same from South America.”

Uefa president Lennart Johansson said: “Asia had no reason to behave like that. They have behaved like children.”

Referring to the Uefa offer, Johansson said: “Asia must learn toaccept the present offer.”

But other Asian delegates also turned their fire on the South American confederation — Conmebol.

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Abdullah al-Dabal, Saudi Arabian Fifa delegate, said Argentina’s Julio Grondona, senior vice-president of Conmebol, declined to meet with Asian delegates. “He exploded, he started shouting, he said he did not want to meet with anybody. Who was he to say that ?” al-Dabal said.

Meanwhile, England is on standby to stage the 2002 World Cup after a threatened Asian boycott created the prospect of co-hosts Japan and South Korea forfeiting the right to host the next tournament.

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