FIFA President Sepp Blatter set out to "mend his relationship with Germany" on Tuesday by clarifying comments, which appeared to suggest the country could have "bought" the right to host the 2006 World Cup, according to Brian Homewood of REUTERS. The 76-year-old Swiss wrote a letter to Bild newspaper, explaining that what he was trying to say in an interview published on Sunday was that "World Cup hosting decisions were always surrounded by suspicion." In Tuesday's letter to Bild, Blatter said that he "wished to put his comments into context." He said, "I wanted to say that one can always find a pretext to doubt the legality of a decision. It shows that with a World Cup hosting vote, you can always find a pretext to spin a conspiracy theory. Even in connection with Germany, which delivered a perfect World Cup, a summer fairy tale of which the whole country can be proud" (REUTERS, 6/17). BILD reported that Blatter's remarks in Sunday's interview "triggered a wave of criticism." The Financial Times Deutschland wrote, "Blatter who is under heavy pressure tries to drag the DFB (German Football Federation) with him in the dirt." And the Frankfurter Rundschau asked, "Does Blatter kick himself out of his position?" (BILD, 6/17).
You can find Blatter's letter here.
