Blatter: Confeds Cup is a high level competition

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter is attending the draw for the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 on Saturday 1 December in Sao Paulo. Ahead of that, together with Secretary General Jerome Valcke, he has taken some time to discuss football matters with journalists in Sao Paulo. FIFA.com summarizes some of the topics covered. On the FIFA World Cup™ The FIFA World Cup is more than just a sporting event, it’s THE event every four years. There is no sport event that can be compared to the World Cup in regards to the international audience. This event has a history, where Brazil has played a very important part. They won it five times, now they host it. In my personal opinion, it will be a great World Cup. On the participating teams for the FIFA Confederations Cup It’s like a present to have such a selection of great names for this competition. We have four World Champions, two from South America with Brazil and Uruguay, two from Europe with Italy and Spain. The Confeds Cup is not only a rehearsal for the World Cup, it’s a high level competition. On the Infrastructure I’m sure everything will be ready, it’s not the first time that I’ve been involved in the organization of a FIFA World Cup. There have always been problems here and there, but in the end, we had a great event. On Ronaldos role in the LOC and his possible candidature for the CBF presidency I’m always happy when former footballers are taking time and energy to work for football. It’s great for him as it’s added value to his life, to be involved in the organization. It would look good if former footballers were be at the head of the big entities, if they bring along the necessary experience. With the experience he is getting through this World Cup, he is on a good track. On the image of FIFA and the changes made after the Congress 2011 We are in a reform process, which we started in 2011. We shall have a better transparency and have started to implement the decisions taken. The only one we still have to implement is the change of statutes. The whole football family is supporting it and we are on a good track. This Ethics Committee should be on all levels, it needs to go down to all the 209 national associations, then football can deal with matters even outside the field of play. Discipline, respect and fairplay must not only be applied just on the field of play but also off it. On Neymars chances of being in the Top 3 for the Ballon d’Or The actuality of football is in the big European leagues, you have a concentration of stars. If you look at the nominees, this proves to be fact, but is unfortunate for a player like Neymar. Coaches, captains and the media are deciding on the short list, it’s not easy. On the use of technology We have two accurate Systems available and will use these in this year’s FIFA Club World Cup. If there is no failure, the plan is to use one of the two systems at the Confed Cup next year. We will only use goal-line systems, as we don’t want any other technology items on the field of play, because we would take away the fascination of our game. On a introduction of a “Mondialito” - a tournament with the former FIFA World Cup winners It’s true that FIFA played a Mondialito in 1981 with six teams. But the international calender is already overcharged. Players are playing up to 80 matches per year. When do they recover or have holidays? We must be realistic and not add more games or Tournaments. FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke on the stadiums’ progress We have one stadium, which needs to speed up the process, which is Manaus. The delivery date for the World Cup is December 2013. For the other stadiums, we are on track. But I would say that with 99 per cent if not 100 per cent, we will play the World Cup in the 12 stadiums as planned. FIFA