John Giles: Messi genius antidote to Fifa malaise

John Giles was another prominent football man attending the launch of the new Sports Medicine Programme at the Beacon Hospital in Dublin, but it was the health of football as a whole that was on the veteran’s mind when he considered how Messi’s magic in the Copa del Rey final had helped redeem a toxic week for the sport.

“Football is great because of what happens on the pitch and, luckily enough, the things that happen off the pitch don’t stop Messi doing what he does,” said Giles. “They are two separate worlds. Footballers don’t mix in the political world. And they don’t want to mix in it. All people want is to see them go out and play. You don’t get 100,000 people watching Blatter perform — thank God!