€66 million Mastercard error my fault alone, says Blatter

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has insisted the responsibility for the Mastercard debacle which cost the world governing body £45 million (€66.8m) rests solely on his shoulders.

Blatter was speaking after the appointment of former marketing chief Jerome Valcke to the post of FIFA general secretary. The 46-year-old will assume the role of a chief executive and as such, become one of the most powerful men in football.

FIFA announced in December that Valcke and three other marketing executives had been dismissed after a US court accused them of “repeated dishonesty” during sponsorship negotiations with MasterCard.

Blatter yesterday defended the appointment and said Valcke had not been dismissed, merely suspended.

Blatter told a news conference in Zurich: “This is not the responsibility of Jerome Valcke, this is the responsibility of the president of FIFA. He was not sacked, he was suspended and he is still under contract with FIFA.”

The FIFA president confirmed that £15m (€22.3m) of the £45m MasterCard compensation deal was to settle the dispute over the two-globes symbols used by both parties.

“This is like a fish bone being removed from my throat,” added Blatter.

“Our partners were suing us since 2002 in over 30 disputes in various parts of the world concerning the trademark.

“This has been solved. It is quite a lot of money but I think it can be digested.”

He also said the decision of a US appeal court to vacate the original court ruling was a “rehabilitation” of Valcke and the three other marketing executives.

Valcke’s new appointment means Blatter will pass on some of his administrative tasks and concentrate more on strategic decisions.

FIFA have also promoted finance director Markus Kattner to be deputy general secretary to cover finance and administration. Valcke, a leading light at sports marketing agency SportFive and French TV network Canal+ before joining FIFA, succeeds Urs Linsi after his contract was not renewed.

Meanwhile, FIFA have relaxed their ban on World Cup qualifiers being played above 2,500m and have made a new limit of 3,000m. It follows protest from the South American confederation but the new limit will still prohibit matches being played in the Bolivian capital La Paz.