[news] FIFA boss says England sex scandal brightened up the summer

[Regs]

Looks like Sepp is putting his foot in it again

FIFA boss says England sex scandal brightened up the summer

Canadian Press

Monday, August 09, 2004

ATHENS (AP) - A sex scandal that led to the resignation of three English Football Association employees and jeopardized the job of the England coach is "something good" that brightened up the summer, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Monday.

"It's enriched the summer non-footballing season in England," Blatter told reporters. Last week England coach Sven-Goeran Eriksson was cleared to continue in his job after the FA decided he hadn't misled it about his affair with a secretary employed by the association.

But FA chief executive Mark Palios and director of communications Colin Gibson resigned following media reports that they had tried to make a deal with a tabloid newspaper to break the story of the affair while covering up Palios' affair with the same woman.

The secretary, Faria Alam - who is having talks with a public relations consultant to sell her story to the newspapers - also resigned.

"It isn't an incident, it is something good," Blatter said. "It is human relations, and football is also human relations. It is better than violence or . . . tackling from behind. Football is part of our life, and in our life if you have attractive people in the room then such things happen."

Alluding to the spate of resignations by coaches following the European championships last month, Blatter said he agreed that soccer officials have to bear responsibility for their actions but that the English case "doesn't affect the game on the field of play."