Home   Medway   News   Article

Sepp Blatter's claims "laughable" says Chatham and Aylesford MP

It's no secret - Tracey Crouch loves football.

The Chatham and Aylesford MP grew up thinking she was Gary Lineker during the 1986 World Cup before becoming an FA qualified football coach and manager of Medway-based Meridian Girls FC Under 18s.

Now the girl who thought she was Gary Lineker is minister for sport, and her love for the game is not diminished. It is matched, perhaps, only by her hate for what she's seen happening amidst the sport's governing hierarchy.

Ongoing corruption allegations, followed by the arrests of FIFA officials on Wednesday under an American anti-corruption warrant - and now the reelection of FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Friday - have prompted Miss Crouch to break her silence on the fiasco.

Tracey Crouch, MP (Con) for Chatham and Aylesford
Tracey Crouch, MP (Con) for Chatham and Aylesford

Writing in a blog for the Huffington Post she spoke of her love for the game and said the arrests this week had "dragged the reputation of football into the mud."

FIFA had a chance to address the allegations with a transparent investigation of their own, she said, but had failed to do so - and she believed long-standing nature of the allegations suggested FIFA was "a deeply flawed and corrupt organisation."

She said the suggestion from Mr Blatter that he could not be held responsible for the actions of others was "laughable", and that people at all levels of the game had watched his behaviour with incredulity.

Those at the top of the game need to be transparent and accountable, and Miss Crouch writes that she has no confidence in Sepp Blatter's ability to bring these values to FIFA.

Calling for change she said it was disappointing that the FIFA elections went ahead in the wake of the arrests, and called on the FA, UEFA and commercial sponsors to put pressure on the president and FIFA as a whole.

Miss Crouch has written to counterparts around Europe to provide further backing for UEFA and push for change.

Meridian Girls' catchphrase is "Kicking 'em since 2002" - and clearly nothing and no one in the game gets a dispensation.

MP Tracey Crouch
MP Tracey Crouch
Close This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.Learn More