FIFA president Sepp Blatter has threatened clubs found guilty of poaching young players with points deduction as the row that has engulfed English football sees no sign of abating. Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City have all been accused of taking under 18-year-old players from continental clubs.
Chelsea were found guilty last week of illegally taking Frenchman Gael Kakuta from Racing Lens, and punished with a two window transfer ban. The guilty verdict has prompted a series of clubs across Europe to publicly complain about the actions of Premier League sides.
Indeed, United stands by Le Harve of inducing 16-year-old Paul Pogba to break his contract with the French Ligue 2 side and by Fiorentina in the case of Michele Fornasier. There are further question marks hanging over the acquisitions of Alberto Massacci and Manuel Pucciarelli from Empoli.
“It is so right when you speak about taking points away,” said Blatter today.
“We have already seen the reaction of a club who have said a player is registered with them but not as a professional player; he is only an amateur. This will not help because it’s a question of age and not a question of if he has a contract or not,” he continued referring to yet another case.
United has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the cases of Pogba, Massacci and Pucciarelli.
Blätter has lost his rag!
Delusional, like Max Mosley.
This from the clown who suggested women should play in tight shorts. The man is a moron and so is Platini.
Who sucks blatter ball ? Platini ?
Why is that old fool still FIFA president?!
blatter hates english teams he does not want them to dominate europe. i bet if you we were talking about this debate with either real madrid or barcelona being accused of what man utd are and what chelsea have been found guilty of, he wouldnt have a thing to say about it
It’s about time our Fleet Street rags did some good and dug into the transfer dealings of Real, Barca etc and see if Blatter still stands by his remarks when they find something.