Mystery surrounds Blatter's non-appearance at ceremony
(pretorianews.co.za)
July 11, 2006 Edition 1
One person was conspicuous by his absence from the podium when Italy's players received their winners' medals and German President Horst Koehler handed their captain Fabio Cannavaro the World Cup.
Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa, was not among the host of dignitaries present at the award ceremony after Italy's dramatic 5-3 penalty shootout win over France.
Local organising committee president Franz Beckenbauer was there, as was Uefa president Lennart Johansson, but there was no sign of Blatter.
Beckenbauer presented the medals to the Italians, while the players grabbed the trophy after it was handed over by the German president. But Blatter was missing - as he was when the runners-up received their medals from Beckenbauer.
A spokesman for the organising committee said that as far as he knew, Blatter was going to be present when the trophy was handed over. "I have no idea why he was not there," he said.
Fifa spokesman Andreas Herren said Blatter had decided on the spur of the moment that he would not be present for the presentation. "There is nothing in the rules about it," he said.
In the run-up to the tournament, Fifa and the German organising committee had been involved in a controversy over the list of speakers at the opening, with Fifa accused of wanting to prevent Beckenbauer from speaking.
Blatter has not always been popular among German football fans and last year was booed in the stadiums during the Confederations Cup. - Sapa-DPA
