Blatter questions national anthems

The tradition of national anthems being played before international matches is under threat after FIFA president Sepp Blatter suggested they could be banned to avert crowd trouble.

It has become common practice for supporters to whistle or jeer opponents’ anthems, and Blatter believes football may be better off by abandoning the familiar pre-match routine.

Irish Football Association president Jim Boyce recently called for a "football anthem" after raising his own concerns over the pre-match heckling.

He was disappointed at a section of Northern Ireland fans booing the Welsh national anthem before a World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park and promised to raise the issue with FIFA.

Blatter appears to be ready to act, although it was this month’s World Cup play-off between Switzerland and Turkey which prompted his investigation.

Anthems were heckled before both legs in the tie, which Blatter’s native Swiss won to qualify for next summer’s finals in Germany.

Blatter said: “I feel this whistling demonstrates a great lack of respect and disparaging to national pride.

“I wonder, therefore, whether it makes sense to keep playing the respective anthems.

“We will consider that at least.”

The FIFA president was speaking in Swiss celebrity magazine Schweizer Illustrierte, in which he also suggested players should be made to shake hands after matches.

His thinking on that matter seems to relate to the scenes which followed the second leg of the Turkey-Switzerland tie, where a post-game flare-up between players tarnished the occasion.

“It cannot be that players aren’t allowed to enjoy themselves after a match and instead have to rush off the pitch like thieves,” he said.

Of the Istanbul occasion, Blatter added: “This match was a warning shot for us all. We will draw our conclusions from it.

“We will also maybe have to consider in the future whether such big matches should be played on neutral ground, at places where proper organisation is guaranteed.”