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!

“The great thing about football is that what happens on the pitch you can see. You might not like it or you might love it, but you can see it. What’s happening behind the scenes you can’t see. People love football, they love the Messis of this world.

"In 50 years time, they’re not going to be talking about how good or bad Blatter was. They’re going to be talking about how good Messi was.”

Asked if the great players should give a lead in opposing corruption in the game — perhaps by boycotting the World Cup — Giles replied: “That’s not realistic. This is a big clean-up job and you need the FBI to do it. Messi and Ronaldo are brilliant at what they do but they’re not going to clean that up! They’re not God. It takes, not bigger people, but people in more influential positions.

“Footballers would love to see the end to corruption but they’re just not capable of doing that. What they can do, they do where it matters most — out on the pitch. That’s what people look for. I’ve never seen Blatter regarded with the affection of Messi or Maradona or Xavi.”