Outspoken FIFA President Sepp Blatter believes that the influx of foreigners in the English Premier League has had a detrimental effect on England’s national team. In aninterview with “Special Report” on Sky Sports News, the Swiss said that he admired the “absolutely outstanding marketing” of the Premier League around the world, but “You havein the key positions in the Premier League too many foreigners and not English players, so your national team is not yet, I have to say, is not yet at the level of these national teams [Spain, Italyand Germany].”
During the wide-ranging interview, Blatter also talked about being booed at Wembley during the London Olympics last summer. “This was just a very small boos and stars arealways booed so I’m a star, you have to take it this way,” the FIFA President said. “I thought that the public in the Olympic Games, they would be a little bit better educated, someof the fans in football because I have been received with a lot of applause in Newcastle, especially Newcastle, I was received like a hero in Wembley, but it was at the end of the match, it is not soimportant.”
Blatter’s tenure as President has been marked by allegations of serial corruption against leading FIFA figures. He reiterated during the interview that he would step downas President in 2015, and that UEFA President Michel Platini could be his successor.