Blatter Says He Will Enforce Uniform Style
Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, the 67-year-old president of FIFA who last week caused an uproar with his remarks that female players should wear “tighter shorts,” made fashion news again on Friday.
This time Blatter said that Cameroon’s new national team uniform -- a one-piece bodysuit with zippers on the shoulders and lion claw-marks down either side -- is “against the laws of the game” and will be outlawed.
“It is the second time the supplier [Puma] poses a problem to the laws of the game,” Blatter said in Tunisia, where the African Nations Cup begins today. “I am sorry they did not consult us before.
“We are not the guardians of the sporting goods industry. We are the guardians of the laws of the game.”
A Puma marketing spokesman said the uniform had been approved by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and would be used by Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions in the 16-nation African Nations Cup tournament that runs until Feb. 14.
In the previous tournament, in Mali in 2000, Cameroon, the African and Olympic champion, decked out its players in sleeveless uniforms designed by Puma that also subsequently were outlawed by FIFA.
Meanwhile, Blatter denied remarks attributed to him by a Swiss newspaper regarding female players’ attire.
“The creativity of the media is incredible,” Blatter said. “Because of this, women’s football was on the front page even in countries where it is not played.”
*
World Cup 2010
Issa Hayatou, the newly reelected president of CAF and a FIFA vice president, said the 2010 World Cup cannot be played in June, the quadrennial tournament’s traditional time slot, because of the weather in Africa.
“In June it is impossible to play soccer in Africa,” Hayatou said, adding that for the same reason CAF would not change the timing of the African Nations Cup, despite the problems it causes European club teams that have to release their African players for the event.
“We cannot have an African championship with 32 matches over three weeks in June, July, August or September because then we will really have waterfalls [heavy rain], and temperatures of up to 45 [113F] degrees,” Hayatou said.
The 2010 World Cup will be played in Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Africa or Tunisia, with FIFA’s decision on the host nation set for May 15.
“We have six years to get ready and should we have to amend the dates we have in mind, then the international match calendar will be looked into,” Blatter said.
*
Nigeria’s Priorities
Nigeria’s government came under scathing attack from the nation’s media Friday over plans for 20 politicians to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to the African Nations Cup at a cost of $20,000 per person in a country where the average annual income is $600.
*
German Breakdown
In a remarkably strange piece of timing, the German soccer federation (DFB) has asked FIFA if it can extend the regulation halftime break of 15 minutes between halves to 20 minutes at Bundesliga matches simply so that clubs can make more money off concession stands.
“It has nothing to do with the players, but it would help with marketing,” a DFB spokesman said.
The request came on the same day that the Bundesliga announced that its 36 first- and second-division teams collected a record $1.68 billion in revenue in the 2002-2003 season, despite the loss of television revenue caused by the Kirchmedia bankruptcy.
“The Bundesliga is economically solid,” said Christian Mueller, financial manager for the league’s front office.
*
Titov Banned
Russian international midfielder Yegor Titov, 27, of Spartak Moscow, was suspended for one year by UEFA after testing positive for the banned substance bromantan following Russia’s Euro 2004 playoff game against Wales in Moscow in November.
*
Golfer Diego
Diego Maradona was briefly back in the public eye Thursday night when he told reporters in Havana, Cuba, his home for the last four years, that it is golf, not soccer, that now occupies his time.
“I’m not a champion ... but I have a lot of fun playing golf,” said Maradona, now 43, separated from his wife, well over his playing weight and sporting tattoos on both arms. “In Cuba I have found the tranquillity I couldn’t find anywhere.”
The former Argentina star said he would attend a farewell game for retired Colombia and Major League Soccer standout Carlos Valderrama in Barranquilla, Colombia on Feb. 1 but would not play.
*
Times wire services contributed to this report.
