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Blatter plans to attend 2018 FIFA World Cup finals

Xinhua, March 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Despite being banned from football, former FIFA president Joseph Blatter plans to go to the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The 80-year old Blatter told Thursday's edition of German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, "I accept the invitations I receive."

Blatter is banned for six years by FIFA in connection with a disloyal 2-million-dollar payment made in 2011 to UEFA boss Michel Platini who has been sanctioned in the same way by the ruling body.

Blatter and Platini are appealing their bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). If the sanction still stands by the time of the World Cup, Blatter will not be allowed to attend the games as a guest of honour but only as a spectator with a ticket he paid for. Endit