FIFA must defend itself against US, like Swiss banks did – Blatter aide

Reuters / Michael Buholzer

FIFA needs to defend itself from an attack by the Americans, believes Klaus Stöhlker, personal consultant to the organization’s acting president, Sepp Blatter.

Stöhlker spoke to RT a day ahead of the big media conference the
Swiss prosecutors are giving on June 17 in connection to the
ongoing corruption investigation in FIFA.

RT: What do you expect to hear
tomorrow?

Klaus Stöhlker: I’m not expecting great
surprises, because it was FIFA’s president Sepp Blatter who
opened the possibility to develop all these questions, which will
be answered tomorrow morning, and I feel quite sure there will be
no major negative surprises. I have to wait a little bit, like
you. I think I know Mr. Lauber who was heading this process and
he’s a very serious man, and I’m sure he will give his best to
find out what really happened in these cases. But, frankly
speaking, I don’t fear great negative surprises. Even no
surprises, I can tell you. For everybody knows that the two games
in Moscow and in Qatar were well prepared. And all these kinds of
accusations, I think they will just go away like nothing, so you
will be very much surprised what you hear tomorrow morning.

RT: How big will the fallout from the
announcements be?

KS: Oh then we know, if really Moscow is losing,
but I don’t expect this, then the English are waiting to step in
with London. And if the Qatari will lose, but I don’t expect
that, there are many countries that want to step in, but it’s
still seven years to prepare, but I don’t expect this, neither
Moscow, nor Qatar.

RT: Do you believe that such an
unprecedented move as canceling Russia’s or Qatar’s right to host
the World Cup may be realized? Is there behind-the-scenes
fighting happening over the World Cup tournaments right now?

KS: Oh, yes! That’s a very good question. I’m
deeply convinced that there is a big game now going on. Many
people in the world are expecting FIFA [acting] President Blatter
will step down soon. No! He is acting president for the next 8 to
10 months, at least. And now three groups are expecting to win
more power, these are: the Americans, with the help of the
English, these are the Europeans with Michel Platini, but without
the Russians, and the third group are the Africans, the Asians,
and the Arabs. They all want to have more influence, they want to
tap into the golden pockets of the FIFA organization, which has a
budget for the next seven years of close to 10 billion euros.

RT: Do you believe Blatter could keep his
post, despite his resignation?

KS: You see, that’s the old game. Some people
think the old lion, Sepp Blatter, will not fight back, and so the
young lions are fighting for FIFA. FIFA is a world-class
organization where billions are moved, where 1.6 billion fans are
around the world, or even more, where 300 million players are.
It’s a huge thing, and everybody wants to take part of this huge
organization. And this fight will go ahead, I think, for the next
12 months, at least.

There is only one group of people who can decide about this
unprecedented move: that’s the congress. That means the members
of 209 countries. They are the democratic basis of FIFA, and this
congress exists, and this congress will vote about the future of
Mr. Sepp Blatter, its acting president, or a competitor we have
not seen until now.

You see the wonderful building headquarters of FIFA in Zurich is
called “Home of FIFA,” the dream of Sepp Blatter, who created
that large multinational corporation, he created it 40 years ago.
And this man created “Home of FIFA.” like a family, or the father
of a family, and he wants to hold the family together; he wants
to advance the family. That’s why tonight, tonight he’s finishing
a paper called “New FIFA” and I’m sure he will give a message
soon.

Klaus Stöhlker

RT: Are individual members, particularly the
US, using leverage against FIFA with the corruption scandal?

KS: Oh sure! That’s political pressure finally.
We in Switzerland, we are used to have the Americans inside our
doors. That’s not only with the banks; that also happens now with
FIFA. So the Americans step inside our doors, and now we have to
fight to defend, like the banks defended themselves, we have to
defend FIFA. And there are really tremendous discussions, not
only in Europe, but also in the US, if what the Americans did in
the last weeks and months is really correct. That discussion is
also going on in the US.

RT: Do you believe there’s a valid candidate
to replace Blatter?

KS: At this moment, at this moment I think there
is no valid candidate, and you can’t give FIFA into the hands of
a lawyer, or a Tony Blair, or a Bill Clinton, or a Gerhard
Schröder from Germany. I think at the top of FIFA you need a
professional, who knows football; who’s a diplomat on the highest
level; who’s able to organize a huge organization, and who is
speaking five to six languages quite fluent. So, you can help us
to find that man. He’s not visible until now.

RT: Please describe your personal
relationship with FIFA.

KS: I know Sepp Blatter personally quite some
years. Here in Switzerland, it’s all so small in certain circles
you just meet, always meet. But in January, President Blatter
asked me to help him with his re-election now, and that was a
successful re-election. So he entrusted it to me, against
many-many other people who wanted to have the same job, but I
think we did it the right way.

RT: Do you believe Russia and Qatar will be
able to host the World Cup tournaments properly despite the
pressure?

KS: FIFA this year is very stable very
successful. All the actions FIFA is realizing are successful and
they’re going on. Now there’s a big challenge of Moscow 2018
that’s just before us, and now we have a war between the US and
Russia, between the Americans and Putin. And now it’s very
difficult, as you know, to prepare these games in a situation
like this one. So it’s a challenge where you need a tough
diplomat.

As we know best, Russian President Putin trusts Blatter. The
Americans, who don’t understand anything of football, they don’t
trust Blatter so much. They trust only themselves. And so Sepp
Blatter has to find a balance between the interests of the
Anglo-Saxons and the rest of the world. That’s now one thing.

The second thing is Qatar. Qatar, I think, they have made
progress. They invested a lot, also in labor relations in Qatar.
These are very-very clever people and I’m sure we will have
excellent games in 2022 in Qatar.

RT: Do you believe Russia has
earned the right to host the World Cup?

KS: Oh sure! Russia is a wonderful country and I
know the history of Russia and all the difficulties, so Joseph
[Sepp] Blatter and the members of FIFA, they believe in Russia.
That’s why they gave the games to Russia. And I’m sure Vladimir
Putin and his whole team will invest a lot, even in these
difficult times they have now, to have wonderful games there. So
President Blatter said it absolutely perfectly, we will have
excellent games in Russia and I hope all will be with us. But,
you see, if the Americans are blockading Russia; that will be
tough. And so that’s why I said: it’s war.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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