FIFA head described English soccer "run by idiots'', Coe says

PanARMENIAN.Net - FIFA president Sepp Blatter once described English soccer as being "run by idiots'', according to Sebastian Coe, AAP reported.

Coe, who headed the London Olympics, worked with Blatter as chairman of FIFA's ethics committee before taking a role with England's failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Russia won the hosting rights after England's bid attracted only two votes following Blatter voicing concerns about English media intrusion into the FIFA executive committee.

In his new autobiography, Coe claims that Blatter has "always had a problem'' with English football.

"From his perspective, it's not hard to understand,'' Coe writes in an extract published by The Times newspaper.

"As president of an international federation, he sees the unwillingness of English clubs to release players for international duty. He sees the purchasing power of the English game - big-name clubs buying up players from all over the world.

"And he sees a national federation that, at the time of the bid, had no chairman or chief executive. And then he sees our press, permanently focusing on his organization.''

Ahead of the FIFA vote, English Football Association chairman David Triesman was forced to quit after covert recordings of him making accusations about rival bidders were published by a newspaper. That came shortly after FA chief executive Ian Watmore quit following a power struggle.