Blatter: Games abroad ‘will never happen’

The president of football’s world governing body FIFA yesterday insisted plans by the Premier League to host games abroad ‘‘will never happen’’.

‘‘This does not take into consideration the fans of the clubs and it gives the impression that they just want to go on tour to make some money,’’ Blatter said.

‘‘This will never happen, at least as long as I am the president of FIFA.’’

Blatter’s comments are the strongest from the governing body since the Premier League’s plans were revealed last week.

Top-flight clubs will consider plans to extend the season to 39 games with the extra matches taking place overseas.

But the idea has met with resistance in Asia, Europe and fans in England.

Blatter’s stance effectively leave the proposals, for a round of games to take place in five different host cities from January 2011, dead in the water.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore had previously expressed his belief that FIFA could not stop the plan if the clubs receive the go-ahead from England’s Football Association.

But Blatter rejected that claim. ‘‘It is not true,’’ he said. ‘‘Even if the FA did sanction it, all the national associations receiving these clubs would have to sanction it also. This will be very difficult.

‘‘This is abuse. The rich Premier League is trying to get richer and wants to expand the importance of that league.’’

And Blatter warned the proposal could affect the FA’s bid for the 2018 World Cup.

‘‘When it comes to a decision of the executive committee concerning this matter of the 39th round, and I am sure they will be against it, then it will not have a positive impact on the bid from England for the World Cup in 2018,’’ he said.

FIFA will examine the Premier League’s proposals at its executive committee meeting on 14 March.

From a dig-out to a dug-out

By Liam Mackey

I know that Robbie Keane’s other half turns up in the social pages from time to time but, compared to our friends in Blighty, we don’t really do WAGS in this country. Thankfully, we still do wags — as in the old school wag in the crowd, press box or dressing room.

Barely had Denis O’Brien’s name popped out of John Delaney’s mouth — followed quickly by the insistence that there were no strings attached to his contribution to Irish football — than a colleague was on the blower with exclusive news that Giovanni Trapattoni’s first starting XI in May would include the likes of Joey O’ Brien, Andy O’Brien, Alan O’ Brien, Ronnie O’ Brien and, unexpectedly coaxed out of retirement, Liam O’ Brien. Needless to say, thighs were slapped and much chortling ensued.

But then, just as a sun-splashed afternoon in Abbotstown on Wednesday had given away to a night of impenetrable fog, so it wasn’t long before the businessman’s apparently transparent gesture had become obscured by a certain amount of confusion.

Instead of basking in the satisfaction of landing one of the game’s top managers, Thursday saw both the FAI and Denis O’Brien engaged in a round of corrections and clarifications about timing and context, while resolutely sticking to their central point that the offer had been made and accepted without any conditions attached.

Yet, without resorting to hysterical headlines or permitting suspicious minds to make all the running, we are entitled to debate the pros and cons of an initiative which is without precedent in the history of the senior team.

The position of those in favour can probably be best summed up by the words ‘gift’, ‘horse’ and ‘mouth’. Or, as John Delaney put it the other day, the FAI would have been “mad” to say no to such a generous offer. And, of course, the ayes can also point to the proof of the Italian pudding — the imminent arrival on these shores of the most experienced and successful manager ever to take control of the boys in green.

So what’s not to like? Well, as in politics, so also in sport — perception counts for a lot, whether those on the receiving end like it or not. And so the FAI shouldn’t be surprised that there are people who feel uneasy about the arrangement, who wonder why a governing sports body in a modern European Celtic Tiger economy — even if it’s now a beast with a wounded paw — should feel the need to accept the assistance of a wealthy benefactor in order to secure a manager for its international football team.

Especially since John Delaney himself has made it clear that, even without Denis O’ Brien, they could and would have dug deeper into their own coffers to ensure the best man for the job would succeed Steve Staunton.

I mean, it’s one thing to outsource the hunt for the manager — and, credit where it’s due, that oft controversial strategy paid off handsomely in the end — but did the FAI really need to outsource half his wages? The Association argues that the deal frees up more funds to plough into other aspects of the Irish game, and that would seem to be self-evidently true. But, given the unequivocal statement that the luring of Trapattoni was not dependent on Denis O’ Brien’s generosity — and John Delaney’s further assertion that the phones to Abbotstown are already hopping with sponsors looking to get on board — then surely the Italian’s arrival should more than pay for itself in the short to long term, especially if he can first of all turn around Ireland’s football fortunes on the field of play. In other words, with Il Trap on board, there is good reason to hope that the game as whole here will benefit, from the grassroots right to the top of the new Lansdowne Road-in-the-making.

To be honest, unlike some of my colleagues, I can’t quite work myself into a righteous lather over the O’Brien connection but, on balance, I still think it would have been better if the FAI had said ‘thanks, but no thanks’. Better for the FAI’s image — we’re back to that perception thing again — as a self-sufficient governing sports body rather than a charity case.

And perhaps, at the end of it all, I’m just being selfishly old-fashioned. At a time in the modern game when the sports pages can too often and too easily be confused with the business pages, maybe it’s just that today I would much rather be writing about the dugout than the digout.

And on that very point, let us salute the arrival at Trapattoni’s side of Mr Marco Tardelli, a man who should hold a special place in the hearts of all fans of the glory game. If he had done nothing else in his career, the ecstatic manner in which he celebrated his goal against West Germany in the 1982 World Cup final guarantees him a place in the all time hall of fame.

Let us hope that Marco Tardelli’s face in that unforgettable moment might be symbolic of what is to come in the Trap ‘n’ Tar era. We have had our fill of Munch’s ‘The Scream’ . And now we want to move beyond the arched eyebrow.

It’s time for the smile to be put back on the face of Irish football.