Source: Daily_Mail
Double standards: Blatter backs Madrid while calling for 'fair play' in England
Sepp Blatter called Real Madrid's eye-watering £80million bid for Cristiano Ronaldo 'good for football' yet the FIFA president has once again hit out at the Premier League's spending power.
As Manchester City try to prise Samuel Eto'o from Barcelona by making him the best paid player in the world, Blatter remains deeply troubled at the migration of talent to England.
Madrid have already sanctioned spending of almost £150m this summer - a figure which will almost certainly rise - with a spree supported by huge bank loans.
Yet it is the way clubs operate in England that has the Swiss football chief exorcised.
'There are big associations, like France, Germany and Spain where there is a by-law that the owners of the club must be at least 51 per cent from the club,' said Blatter. 'They must be members of the club or partners from the same country.
'This does not exist in the Premier League and it is a problem we have to address.'
Yet Blatter is currently at a loss as to how exactly he will achieve his aims, given UK law will not be changed to implement the same ownership rules that exist in other countries.
'We have no right to interfere in economic movements,' he admitted. 'We, the whole FIFA family, is aware of this.
'We have spoken before about financial fair play. Financial fair play is not only a licensing system and financing control but financing fair play means also that all participants should observe a minimum of fair play.'
The comments are in contrast to the way Blatter greeted news that Manchester United had accepted Madrid's world-record bid for Ronaldo.
At the time, Blatter said: 'Cristiano Ronaldo's signing is good for football. It shows the market of the sport is healthy despite the world financial crisis.
'This means our product is still good. This is the people's sport and they need stars. The transfer will cost a lot of money, but it shows that there is still demand for a football star.
'We should be allowed to be generous about this. This market is very sensitive because there is a financial crisis, but the football market is still a good one.'
Blatter's latest comments are unlikely to have much of an effect on City's summer recruitment drive.
Barca are keen to push through the 'stratospheric offer' City have made the Cameroon star given he could leave for nothing next summer and will miss a month of next term at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The situation will be clarified on Tuesday morning when Eto'o's agent Josep Maria Mesalles is expected to hold a press conference to outline the 28-year-old's intentions.
