Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has launched a scathing attack on his successor Gianni Infantino, calling him a dictator and suggesting the current FIFA chief needs psychiatric help.
In an interview with German publication Der Spiegel, the 90-year-old former football executive heavily criticized Infantino’s administrative decisions, including the creation of a FIFA Peace Prize for US President Donald Trump ahead of the World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
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Blatter also targeted Infantino’s now-abandoned proposal to sell off a portion of the tournament’s future commercial rights following severe backlash from the global football community.
“FIFA is suffering. It is currently led by a person who has allowed himself to be blinded,” Blatter told Der Spiegel.
Referring to the controversial award presented to the US president, Blatter described the gesture as “embarrassing” and out of touch with geopolitical realities.
“Why would he do something like that?” Blatter questioned. “Infantino awards a peace prize to someone who wages war against Iran shortly afterwards? That’s madness.”
Blatter went on to accuse Infantino of using FIFA’s financial clout to solidify power among member federations to ensure his continued re-election.
“‘If you vote for me’, he tells the national associations, ‘You will get much more money than before’,” Blatter claimed. “He is a dictator. People in FIFA tell me that no one is allowed to ride in the elevator with him. He is ‘untouchable’.”
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Reiterating his opposition to Infantino’s commercial strategy for the World Cup, Blatter added: “Infantino no longer knows any borders. He doesn’t understand any of this. I mean, maybe Infantino should be sent to a psychiatric ward one day.”
Blatter served as FIFA president from 1998 until 2015, when he resigned amid widespread corruption scandals and vote-buying allegations that rocked the sport’s governing body.
