Latest news with #SeppBlatter
Local France
5 days ago
- Sport
- Local France
Michel Platini scares off burglar at his French villa
Platini, 70, heard a noise in the garden of the property in Cassis early in the morning and came face to face with a man in a black mask, who fled with several trophies and medals, the source said. Platini played 72 times for France and won the Ballon d'Or award for the world's top player three years in a row from 1983 to 1985. He led France to the semi-finals of the 1982 and 1986 World Cup. He was UEFA president from 2007 to 2016 and later became embroiled in a financial scandal involving then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter, but was acquitted in March this year.
Al Etihad
5 days ago
- Sport
- Al Etihad
Michel Platini scares off burglar at his French villa
18 July 2025 23:30 Paris (AFP)Football legend Michel Platini disturbed a burglar at his villa in the south of France on Friday, a source close to the police investigation told 70, heard a noise in the garden of the property in Cassis early in the morning and came face to face with a man in a black mask, who fled with several trophies and medals, the source played 72 times for France and won the Ballon d'Or award for the world's top player three years in a row from 1983 to led France to the semi-finals of the 1982 and 1986 World Cup. He was UEFA president from 2007 to 2016 and later became embroiled in a financial scandal involving then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter, but was acquitted in March this year.
New York Times
12-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
‘Football has been lost to Saudi Arabia' – former FIFA president Sepp Blatter
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said football has been 'lost' to Saudi Arabia and criticised his former employer's role in offering 'no opposition' to the Middle East nation. In December, Saudi was confirmed as the host nation of the 2034 men's World Cup following an unopposed bid for the tournament. Advertisement Saudi Arabia has invested significantly in football in recent years, most notably in 2023 as its Public Investment Fund (PIF) took control of four domestic teams — Al Ahli, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Nassr — in the Saudi Pro League (SPL), a year after PIF bought an 85 per cent stake in Premier League club Newcastle United. FIFA's $1 billion broadcast deal for the newly-expanded Club World Cup with DAZN — now part-owned by PIF's sports arm SURJ — is another element of the Middle Eastern nation's dominant position in the sport. Other Saudi brands, meanwhile, have been promoted across recent club and international showpieces including Aramco, Riyadh Air and Visit Saudi. 'We have lost football to Saudi Arabia,' Blatter told German TV channel ntv. 'We offered it, and they took it. 'Surprisingly, there is no opposition to this within FIFA.' Blatter also spoke about his concerns about FIFA's newly-expanded Club World Cup, with the new-look, 32-team tournament held in the U.S. this summer. 'There's too much football,' Blatter said about the tournament. 'The same players and clubs are repeatedly affected, without adequate rest.' Blatter also said the extreme heat, which has been a backdrop throughout the summer tournament, is 'unhealthy and impertinent'. The players union, FIFPRO, is among the critics who have called on FIFA to reconsider selecting kickoff times for matches around the middle of the afternoon, to avoid the highest temperatures. Those slots, however, have been considered more attractive for broadcast audiences in Europe and Asia, though FIFA says it is looking at using covered stadiums for the warmest times. The 89-year-old Swiss was also critical of the leadership of his successor as FIFA president Gianni Infantino. 'Everything is done electronically, and nobody says anything,' said Blatter. 'You can even arrive six hours late to a congress.' In May, FIFA's Congress in Paraguay was delayed because Infantino had not arrived on time for the scheduled start time in Asuncion, having decided to join the U.S. president Donald Trump for a visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. A meeting of the FIFA Council earlier in the week also had to be altered to a virtual meeting. Advertisement Blatter became FIFA president in 1998. His reign as the most powerful figure in football was not without its own controversies, with several corruption scandals hitting FIFA and the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 men's World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively attracting widespread criticism. Blatter said in 2022 that awarding that year's tournament to Qatar 12 years earlier had been 'a mistake'. In March this year, Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini were cleared of financial wrongdoing by an appeals court in Switzerland. In December 2015, Blatter and Platini were banned from football for eight years (later reduced to six on appeal) by FIFA after an investigation by its ethics committee. FIFA, and the Swiss authorities, alleged that a two million Swiss francs payment was to ensure Platini helped deliver the requisite votes to ensure Blatter was re-elected as FIFA president in 2011. Blatter and Platini have always denied wrongdoing and said the payment was a fee paid to the former for work he did as an advisor from 1998 to 2002, which was delayed as FIFA lacked the funds to pay him in full at the time. (Top image of FIFA president Gianni Infantino: Harold Cunningham – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Euronews
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
False image shows Inter Milan supporting Palestine with flag
An image going around online alleges that Italian football team Inter Milan has been waving the Palestinian flag ahead of its matches in solidarity with the people of Palestine. The photo shows children walking past the squad, giving the players on the field a high five while brandishing the flag. The posts on X containing the photo have captions such as "Inter Milan shows solidarity with Palestine before their game" and "Free Palestine", clearly framing it as having been recently taken. Ultimately, however, the image and its captions are misleading because the picture has been cropped. A reverse image search leads us to the original, posted on Getty Images, which dates back to 23 September 2009. This means it was taken well over a decade before the attacks which sparked the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October 2023, but still during the wider Israel-Palestine conflict, which has been going on for much longer. The Getty Images publication also shows that the photo shared online has been cropped. The original image shows both Israeli and Palestinian children from an Inter Milan camp, waving their respective flags and giving high-fives to players before a Serie A match against SSC Napoli. A further online search reveals that this scene was part of an Inter Campus event, where children from Inter camps all over the world spent a week in Italy "for a week of sport, education and fun", culminating in a lap of honour by each delegation before the Inter-Napoli match. The photo resurfaced again in 2015, attached to an article reporting on a proposal by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter to host a "peace match" between Israel and Palestine. The match ultimately did not take place. The reverse image search also shows us that this isn't the first time that the cropped image has been shared in this misleading way. It has appeared every few months since the 7 October attacks.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
England's Lionesses find a home from home at Zurich's fairy-tale 'castle'
The Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland is pictured on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. (Gaetan Bally/Keystone via AP) FILE - Members of the FIFA board, from left, Keith Cooper, Ken Naganuma, Mong-Joon Chung, Guillermo Canedo, Joao Havelange, Sepp Blatter, Lennart Johansson and Antonio Matarrese are seen in Zurich on May 31, 1996. (Christoph Ruckstuhl/Keystone via AP) The Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland is pictured on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014. (Steffen Schmidt/Keystone via AP) The Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland is pictured on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. (Gaetan Bally/Keystone via AP) The Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland is pictured on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. (Gaetan Bally/Keystone via AP) The Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland is pictured on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. (Gaetan Bally/Keystone via AP) FILE - Members of the FIFA board, from left, Keith Cooper, Ken Naganuma, Mong-Joon Chung, Guillermo Canedo, Joao Havelange, Sepp Blatter, Lennart Johansson and Antonio Matarrese are seen in Zurich on May 31, 1996. (Christoph Ruckstuhl/Keystone via AP) The Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland is pictured on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014. (Steffen Schmidt/Keystone via AP) The Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland is pictured on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. (Gaetan Bally/Keystone via AP) ZURICH (AP) — England's hotel at the Women's European Championship is a 'home from home,' although it is likely a step above the players' normal abodes. Nestled in the woods on top of a hill overlooking Zurich and flaunting an array of spires and cupolas, the iconic Dolder Grand looks like a castle that has jumped straight out of a book of fairy tales. Advertisement Inside, old-world grandeur with chandeliers and sweeping staircases meets sleek modernity, as well as panoramic views over Lake Zurich and the Alps. 'My first 24 hours here I was just going 'Whoa, whoa!' the whole time,' said England defender Esme Morgan, who plays for Washington Spirit in the United States. 'We feel very lucky with how well we've been taken care of and its sort of the perfect base for us to go on through the tournament and where everyone can just relax and get together to watch the other games.' The players can also relax by perusing the Dolder Grand's art collection with more than 100 works by artists including Salvador Dalí and actor Sylvester Stallone. Advertisement The hotel has a 4,000 square-meter spa, that includes an infinity hot tub with stunning views — an ideal place for the Lionesses to recover after a match. England began its title defense by losing to France 2-1 on Saturday and next plays on Wednesday against the Netherlands in Group D. 'We feel super welcome' Rooms at the Dolder Grand start at 740 Swiss Francs ($930) a night for a double to around 14,500 Swiss Francs ($18,300) for the two-floor Presidential Suite — which, like some of the other suites, includes a butler service. The Dolder Grand — which featured in the movie 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' — was chosen after a year-long search by the English Football Association, with staff having the perhaps enviable job of visiting 23 facilities, tasked with finding the team a home from home. Advertisement 'About a year ago, for the first time, I stepped into the door of the Dolder and we could just feel the excitement of the hotel staff,' said the team's general manager, Anja van Ginhoven. 'One of the first things they said to us, similar to The Lensbury (on the outskirts of London where the Lionesses stayed in 2022), they said 'We want to be part of this.' 'We feel super welcome and very supported. All they want to do is give us a great home away from home.' The Lionesses arrived on their team bus, shortly after flying into Zurich, and were greeted by beaming hotel staff. Guests normally arrive by car — often very nice ones — or by a short journey up on the rack-and-pinion railway, which has its terminus adjacent to the hotel. Advertisement The hotel dates back to 1899 although it underwent an extensive renovation at the start of the century, led by Norman Foster. Dignitaries and film stars Apart from the reigning European champions, the Dolder Grand has hosted a plethora of celebrities, from Hollywood stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Leonardo DiCaprio, to the Rolling Stones, as well as royalty and dignitaries including Winston Churchill, the Shah of Persia and King Charles, when he was a bachelor prince. The Dolder Grand also had a cameo role in FIFA business and soccer conferences during the presidency of Sepp Blatter that ended in 2015. Advertisement During the now-notorious World Cup bidding contests for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, scandal implicated two FIFA executive committee members weeks before they were due to vote. FIFA vice president Reynald Temarii was staying at the Dolder Grand the night before he was due for a dressing-down meeting with Blatter at FIFA headquarters. In 1996, the hotel is also where FIFA — with Blatter as secretary general — formally sealed the diplomatic deal to have World Cup co-hosts for the first time, awarding the 2002 edition to Japan and South Korea. Uncertain stay Just how long England will be able to enjoy the grande dame of Zurich hotels remains to be seen. Sarina Wiegman's team also faces the Netherlands and Wales in Group D. Advertisement Football may or not be 'coming home' — as England's team anthem goes — but the Lionesses might not want to. ___ AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar contributed to this report ___ AP soccer:
