Friday 10 July 2015 09:04, UK
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has claimed he is the victim of harassment which he believes is down to English bitterness and “envy”.
The 79-year-old told a Swiss magazine that England has a grudge against FIFA which stems from the 1974 FIFA presidential elections when Sir Stanley Rous was replaced by Brazil’s Joao Havelange.
Blatter also hit out at critics who he jokingly claimed could even blame him for Laura Bassett’s last-minute own-goal that knocked England out of the Women’s World Cup.
In an interview with Die Weltwoche, Blatter said: "At that point, England lost their supremacy over their beloved sport, and also over athletics.
"The English suffer by no longer being able to control football. This is where the attacks against FIFA originated."
Speaking about the FBI raids and arrests of senior football officials two days before Fifa’s congress in May, Blatter said: "This envy has been festering for years.
"Envy is a predicate to jealousy. And jealousy is rooted in love. This can however turn to hate. And that’s what happened when this tsunami hit us two days before the congress.
"I not only see everything, I'm responsible for everything, even for the English women’s own-goal at the World Cup recently. Am I responsible for climate change, too?
"It is impossible to stamp out robbery and murder, even with a functioning courts system down to community level. Football is not better than our society."
