Football
Sepp Blatter ‘accuses UEFA of rigging tournament draws’
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has allegedly accused UEFA of rigging tournament draws.
The 80-year-old has been quoted by a Swiss newspaper as saying that certain balls denoting the teams in the draw were either “warmed” or “cooled” so they could be distinguished from others in the pot.
Blatter declined to identify which specific teams or tournaments were affected, confirming only that it was a European club competition.
“I saw it with my own eyes and it was like cheating,” he told Blick.
“It was for a European competition. Only one team has managed that. It was an Italian side. You can see the balls that are drawn identified either by making them hot, or if they have been cooled. I was a witness.”
Blatter stepped down from his post at the height of the corruption scandal that has engulfed FIFA for the last 18 months, but maintains that he has never been involved in illegal activity.
