Former FIFA president spoke on the statement of the head of the British Foreign Ministry Boris Johnson about boycotting the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The legend of football assured that the championship will be held in Russia and in no other way, even if FIFA takes the initiative to cancel, it will not happen. "Football in itself is the biggest phenomenon. Almost two billion people are involved directly or indirectly in it! World Championship - event number one. It is quoted above the Olympic Games. The Olympics are going on for two weeks. World Championship - month. And count how long it takes for him to prepare!.
I repeat: the 2018 World Cup will be held in Russia! ", Zepp Blatter told the" Sport-Express ". The English people do not know how to lose, Blatter explained boycott of the World Cup. Recall that the issue of the refusal of the British to come to the championship was raised after Salisbury was poisoned by former Colonel GRU Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia. The UK stated that if it turns out that Russia will be guilty of the incident, the country will reconsider the format of participation. "Such people talk a lot about Russia ... The recent Olympics, all these problems created around it ... I will say one thing: the World Cup will not be canceled. It will take place. And all the teams that have made their way to the final tournament will play, "Blatter said.. In his turn, Dmitry Peskov, the presidential press secretary, said that Russia did not hear the official statements of British politicians about Russia's involvement in the Skripal case.
"In any case, this is not our question," the press secretary added.. "The Russian citizen you mentioned, as you know, worked for one of the special services of Great Britain. The incident occurred in the UK, and this in no way is a matter for the Russian Federation, let alone the leadership of the Russian Federation, "the press secretary of the Russian president said.. Blatter expressed his regret for anti-Russian sentiment.
The former president would be very happy if football could unite these warring countries.