Having seen (and been appalled by) the video yesterday, I was waiting to hear what Cristiano’s camp would say about Blatter’s comments but this artful bitchslap went beyond my expectations.
Blatter is an out of touch, disrespectful, corrupt loathsome douchebag. That’s no secret. What can be done to get him and these other fuckers who are making a mess (and a mockery) of football out of the equation? It’s just ridiculously frustrating. Every time he opens his mouth he becomes more embarrassing. Classless arsehole.
UPDATED: FloPeezy sent a note to Sepp and Sepp replied. Here’s the proper English translation:
Letter sent by the President of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, to Joseph Blatter at 12:23 p.m.
Dear President,
We were surprised to read your remarks concerning our player Cristiano Ronaldo and his chances of being crowned Ballon d’Or and FIFA Player of the Year winner; this has caused great disappointment among the Real Madrid family because these misguided and unacceptable comments were made by the President of World Football’s leading Authority.
On the one hand, they are unfair because they are made about a player who is respected the world over by millions of fans, and not just Real Madrid supporters. He is undeniably one of the greatest footballers that the world has ever seen. The comments are also disrespectful to him as a person as, on the other hand, he embodies sporting values in the eyes of society which is in genuine need of the kind of example that he sets; finally, it is our understanding that your remarks may determine the vote of those whose responsibility it is to decide on the winner of this accolade.
We, at Real Madrid, a club which has a special connection with FIFA in view of our position as a founding member, are profoundly disappointed by the whole episode and, as President of Real Madrid, I want you to know that we condemn your comments, which is why we would ask that you retract them to make up, to the extent possible, for the damage caused both to the player and the institution that we represent.
Yours Sincerely,
Florentino PérezLetter sent by the President of FIFA, Joseph Blatter, to the President of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, at 16:12 p.m.
Dear President:
I received your letter earlier today and was surprised by the content contained therein.
Firstly, I would like to point out that at the ceremony held last Friday at Oxford University, no discussions were held about the aspirations of any player with regard to the FIFA Ballon d’Or. At the end of my speech, and in response to a question about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the moderator asked me to choose between the two and, at that moment in time, having stated that Messi is the kind of son that any mother would like to have, I finally gave his name. However, I would like to make it quite clear that it is my opinion that Cristiano Ronaldo is at the same level as Messi and that both are extraordinary players, each in his own way.
I regret that this situation at a university ceremony has caused you so much distress and I would like to apologise for it. It was never my intention to cause discomfort or show a lack of respect to Real Madrid FC, one of it players or its support, not only because it is the founding club of FIFA but also because it is a club that I have followed and admired since I was a child.
Kind Regards,
Joseph Blatter.
Here’s what I’d say to Sepp:
Are you fucking serious? How could you not understand that you would be causing harm when you denigrated and mocked him as a person and a player?
Go fuck yourself. Apology not accepted.
– Lozil
Of Headbands and Heartbreak
watishistacorrespondents
Of Headbands and Heartbreak... 
I don’t actually think Blatter has ever watched a game of football in his life. Nor has he ever stepped foot in the real world. Indeed he deserved the response from Cristiano and his team
if it takes cristiano calling blatter and FIFA out for being completely useless, then i think he’s doing the right thing. i know he turns hate into goals and is a professional and totally above this nonsense, but i’m glad he reacted publicly. he’s earned the right to do so, on and off the field by proving he’s one of the world’s best players and an incredible guy.
Wow! First of all I have to say that it’s the first time I see this video and just wow! I can’t explain what I feel! A man in his position knows what an impact his words have! And in my eyes he’s a b*tch!
And what a classy move by Cristiano. He knows that he has to be careful with his words and he did well! He said nothing mean … just the truth! He chose his words wise and I’m proud if him. If he’d said sonething mean (most of the people would’ve understood him) the media would go crazy . But he’s a professional and did it in the completely right way!
Grant Wahl just said that Cristiano needs to take his twitter back from his PR team…
Saw this and was very surprised.
Also annoyed with cules who are pooh poohing this. If Blatter had mocked Messi, they would have burned down Zurich. Whether or not you like Cris, no one can deny that Blatter was unprofessional and inappropriate.
This exactly. Blatter was completely unprofessional and I don’t care which team you support, if you can’t understand why the head of FIFA publicly mocking a player is a problem, you’re coming a bit too close to choosing team loyalty over human decency.
little boys underwear-gate probably got that person fired. i hope.
Well, the thing is, referring to underwear-gate, a mistake was made. And in a language that is neither Cristiano’s nor his PR team’s first. It was an awkward tweet, absolutely. But to say Cris needs to take back his twitter after a deserved response to Sepp Blatter?
Cristiano doesn’t give two shits about Facebook or Twitter. His PR team does everything there. He uses it for marketing purposes because he’s smart enough to understand that social media is how you connect. He has more say over his Instagram because he does post personal pics there once in a while.
But to me… Grant Wahl is essentially defending Blatter by saying what he’s said. And that’s not on.
I totally agree with you on that. Ridiculous. I thought Underwear-gate was stupid so I didn’t bother to post about it. It was an awkward tweet but it got blown so out of proportion. Bet more people heard about that than Messi standing up fans that paid bank to have a meet & greet with him this summer.
Oh, that failed Messi meet and greet was a PR nightmare. Coupled with his tax evasion case, it has knocked him down a few pegs in public popularity.
The problem with immense fame, as in his and Cristiano’s case, is the delegation of tasks that sometimes requires a personal touch.
And perhaps it’s Blatter that needs a new PR team…
Most definitely! When he opens his mouth, his politically incorrect biases and senility are revealed. He can’t even get the names of the most popular football players on the planet correct: Leonard Messi and Ibramovic! Time to shove off, old man.
Oh I totally forgot to post about how he called Messi “Leonard” which cracked me up so bad.
I’ll just lean back and enjoy Cristiano working even harder, giving even more for both of his teams than he does now and prove who scores more goals.
The worst part is anyway that Blatter won’t even ever realise what an asshole he is.
The worst part is that no matter how hard Cristiano works, FIFA will continue to change the criteria to make it so he doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or. I’m not saying Messi hasn’t deserved it, but Cris couldn’t even get it when he broke a goal scoring record in La Liga and Portugal made it to quarter finals of the Euro?
just want to leave a link to a post on Managing Madrid which gives a great response to Blatter’s bullsh*t (pardon my language):
http://www.managingmadrid.com/2013/10/29/5042660/sepp-blatter-cristiano-ronaldo
And the Guardian’s Fiver also responds to Blatter’s nonsense:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/29/the-fiver-ballon-dor-ronaldo
Btw I think both Ronaldo’s and Real Madrid’s response has been great and they should stay away from the Ballon D’Or – like Ronaldo writes – much is explained now.
@ Sepp Blatter: I think that there are many mothers and fathers who would like to have a son like Ronaldo, however, I don’t think that there are many sons or daugthers who would like to have a father like you ! (Sorry about the personal attack – can’t stand the guy and now he’s mocking my favourite player!)
Hi Luz –
If you try to post a comment with multiple links in it, it goes into a pending file because it could potentially be spam. It’s a safeguard in the WordPress system. Just give me a bit of time to get back to the site and approve things. You don’t have to keep re-submitting the comment multiple times. It hasn’t disappeared, it’s just waiting to be approved.
That goes for everyone else too – thanks for your patience. I can’t always approve things right away.
Lozil
Thousand apologies 😦
I didn’t know – thanks for the update
No worries. Just didn’t want you to think I was blocking your comments or something!
Just saw a tweet from Marcelo that basically just Cris’ name and THE BEST like 17 times. I love how Cris’ response is all dignified and composed and his friend is basically like – fuck that noise, my boy is awesome, end of story. ❤
Ahh how cute of Marcelo!! 😀
“I didn’t say what I said” or something like this, in this time in Twitter: https://twitter.com/BTSP/status/395267556086657024/photo/1
Yeah, I guess Blatter felt like he had to get it out on Twitter since most people might not see the ‘sorry’ letter he sent.
And he’s an honorary socio? So what? Doesn’t mean shit. My male friends consider me an honorary boy. Doesn’t mean I’ve got a dick, you know? He’s not a RM fan. Supposedly he’s supported the team since he was a kid but I’ve never seen an indication of that beside the occasional lip service when he’s caught making an ass of himself yet again.
I also like how he mentioned it was a “private event” as in “I didn’t think it would get out that I was shit talking you.” ::smh::
I that it’s just a cheap excuse. A man in his position has to chose his words carefully! Like he didn’t knew there were cameras or so!
Not only did he put his foot in his mouth, but the foot wore boots and kicked the ball in, too! That’s a pretty big mouth for such small ideas!
I don’t think this is such a big insult (and I’m a MASSIVE CR fan.) He said Ronaldo was a Commander and that he couldn’t choose between the two. The “every father would want at his table” thing was a little catty, considering Cristiano’s father is dead. Whatever, I love that Cristiano is a bad boy. It makes him hot and a badass on the pitch. Messi is so epically boring. Cristiano makes football fun again.
But from a man in his position it’s disrespectful. (my opinion)
I totally agree. A man in his position should tout the love of the game and stay neutral when asked those questions. Duh basic Management 101 Mister.
Did you actually see the whole thing? Doesn’t sound like it. He *did* say that he preferred Messi and made digs about Cristiano’s hairdresser. He physically mocked him as well. It was inappropriate.
I agree with you that the game needs it’s larger than life characters – the Cristianos, the Zlatans, etc.
I would disagree with Cris being a bad boy. Is he emotional on the field? Yes. Is he intimidating on the field? Yes. Is he intense? Yes.
But his charity work is far less publicized than Messi’s leading me to believe it is far more genuine. Meaning, in fact, that Cris is not a bad boy. He is actually a man that one would want to bring home to their parents. The “boy” that every mother or father would want to have at his table.
Calling Cris a commander isn’t insulting, but the mimicking/mocking and making a statement such as “spending more time at the hairdresser” is insulting.
And yes, Cristiano makes footballing fun again. He’s exciting and that’s why I personally prefer him like you do.
I was not CRs greatest fan when he came to Madrid, however having seen him never give up on the pitch, always giving it his all, I have come to respect and admire him. I’m so proud of him now!
When I first heard about this, they only mentioned the part about Cristiano and paying more for a hairdresser or something of that sort so I thought nothing of it. But when I watched the video in its entirety, I was disgusted. Not only did Blatter insult Cris as a player, but as a person. I think that’s what bothered me the most. They make him out to be some snobby conceited player with a huge ego which is not true. I actually think Cristiano is a better player than Messi and I’m not just saying that because I go for Madrid. Cristiano has so much more pressure and pretty much carries Real Madrid and Portugal on his back (in my opinion). I agree with you wholeheartedly. Apology NOT accepted Blatter. Cristiano will shut him up soon enough by working his magic on the field.
“Blatter is an out of touch, disrespectful, corrupt loathsome douchebag.: Perfectly said.
I freaking love you Cristiano Ronaldo. Awesome response. I love the fact that he probably knows the reply will only assure he won’t get the Ballon d’Or(as if it wasn’t already clear enough), but he still went with it. Because FIFA and the douche who runs it are crap and Cris is one of few in the footballing world (along with Mou) who aren’t willing to kiss their arses.
What a load of bull crap.
I hadn’t seen the video or heard Blatter’s alleged comments until I watched the youtube video posted above. The things that bothered me the most were that he blathered on about how great Messi was on not only a professional, but also a personal level. Then he gave his description of Cristiano that lasted five seconds and managed to disrespect both his style of play and his GROOMING HABITS?! And what made me laugh was that he said this to, presumably, a room full of BRITISH people who likely idolize CR7, even years after he left ManU.
I don’t know which I’m hoping for more – to see Cristiano no longer care about or even show up to Ballon d’Or engagements or to see him show up to every single one, with a smile on his face, gel in his hair, and giving respect to even those who don’t deserve one ounce of it.
Best player in the world. And no one will ever be able to convince me otherwise.
Fuck Blatter, fuck FIFA. And I am not apologizing for that! Lawd, just how stupid, clueless, crazy, rude, cruel is Blatter? Ronaldo or Messi for a son, give me Cris in any lifetime. He is just out there, he is angry you know, he is happy you see.
Ronaldo or Messi as a footballer, is that even a question? I’ll take Ronaldo. And if you want to know why, you and Blatter should go and eff yourselves.
1. I am a Red devil through and through and we all know just how serious Vidic is. I have never ever seen Vidic do anything crazy out in public. Wearing that hat during trophy celebrations was as crazy as we have ever seen him and somehow Ronaldo made him do ‘The Balotelli’ out in public with photographers all around them.
2. When Nani cancelled that goal and Cris stomped all over the pitch (not all over, but you get the idea) I thought that would cause WWIII between the two, I could have been more wrong!
3. Scholes is a man of few words and even fewer friends in the football. How Cris managed to befriend him especially with their off-field selves being worlds apart will always remain a mystery to me.
Have Blatter call me if he needs more of this.
That man is disgusting me so much. Even his apology is condescending. Praising Messi is one thing but referring to Cris as ‘the other one’, how stupid can you be.
On the other hand, this blatant preference for Messi has almost made it impossible for him to win again this time. There was already a lot of critique last time. Not a single soul would ever take it serious ever again.
I really wiah that the next time Messi wins the Ballon d’Or ( and sadly I think he will win it) Cristiano should just laugh, not smile, just laugh like someone told him the best joke ever. To shiw he doesn’t care!
I always read the FB comments under his posts and it’s the first time ever there were so many people by his side! Even if I think he won’t read them I think he should because I was really surprised. Abd I don’t mean the classic comments about who they prefer of the whole Messi/Ronaldo thing, but really touching, well said and great comments! I have never been so proud of him and his FB fans before!
It seems there are quite a few people who think that Cris, Real Madrid, the FPF, and we Madridistas are all over-reacting because people make fun of Cris all the time. Oy.
Yes, a lot of us poke fun at Cris (we actually do it quite a bit here on H&H, but it’s always with affection). However, none of us are president of the governing body of world football. This is like the referee cheering when one side scores, or a judge celebrating when a jury delivers a certain verdict, but worse.
And yes, everyone is entitled to their opinions and personal favorites. However, when you are given the power and influence over everything in football everywhere, your ability to administrate with impartiality should be beyond reproach. Blatter has never had a decent credibility rating, but this incident is more proof that he just doesn’t give a shit about the integrity of his position.
Anyhow, I guess I’m kind of happy this happened. At least it’s out in the open now, none of us have to guess. Like Cris said, “Much is explained.”
And yes, Messi does need to spend more money at the hairdresser.
My god, this game is NUTS. Cris scored his 22nd hat trick for RM. And has 157 goals in 146 games surpassing Puskas record (156 in 180). He’s a BEAST. Benz with a brace (and 2 assists), Bale with a brace (and 2 assists). And there’s still time for more. Oy.
Wow he really made these haters shut up! I felt before that he will show his best now more than ever but this game was just WOW ! 😀
The commander salute was priceless!
and Marcelo saluting back! 😀