FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter talked most of the one-hour press conference on Monday to make a plea for the three unleashed under-23 players who had arrived in China for the upcoming Olympic Games.
"We, I mean the FIFA family, are very surprised by the sudden collapse in Germany and Spain to underplay the players for the Olympics," said the boss of soccer's world governing body, referring to the fight over whether clubs, those European giants in particular, must release its players for the Beijing Olympics to start on Friday.
German clubs Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen, as well as Spanish soccer giants FC Barcelona, have filed a joint appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), asking it to overrule a FIFA decision that players aged under 23 must be allowed to play for their country in Beijing.
Barcelona wants to keep Argentine forward Lionel Messi available for their Champions League third round qualifiers in August, while Schalke and Werder claimed that they are under no obligation to allow Brazilian Rafinha and Diego for an event out of FIFA's international calendar.
FIFA has to present its case with paperwork to the CAS until midnight Monday, which means the CAS will give its verdict on or before Wednesday, a day before the Olympic men's soccer tournament starts.
"It is not only related to the countries concerned, Argentina and Brazil, but also to other countries (and regions)," commented Blatter. "It's not only the question of players but the question of respect."
The 72-year-old Swiss thoroughly reviewed the history of Olympic football competitions, emphasizing that no question had been raised in the past 20 years since FIFA congress decided to open the Olympics to age-limited group in 1988.
He took former German star player and coach Juergen Klinsmann as an example to explain the importance of Olympic Games to players.
"Klinsmann said in his book that the bronze medal Germany won in 1988 Olympics is his No. 1," he said. "We can see how important the Olympic Games means to a player.
"So, if players want to play in Olympics, please let them play," said Blatter. "I'm not trying to have influence on the hearing. But I strongly recommended that it would be one of the most crucial decisions, since players could have better experience if they played Olympics."
"We play the Olympic football tournament in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, and there's never ever one complaint over the under-23 players principle," he added.
Messi, who had told Spanish media that he would hook up with Argentina as soon as possible, arrived last Friday in Shanghai where his team would play their Group A matches against Serbia, Australia and Cote d'Ivore. Rafinha and Diegohave had already defied the orders from their clubs and joined the Brazilian squad.
"The three players are here and starting training session. And I'm asking you media to support. Let them play, and aske the clubs, if the ruling is in their favor, please let the players stay here. Because the players are here and should play," said Blatter.
The president declined to give any guarantee, saying,"It is not only our decision."
"I do hope that even if the ruling are against the players but the clubs say 'Ok. It will be right to let the players play the Olympic Games'," he said.
"It can only be exiting good to football. Just to be a little bit more flexible," added Blatter. "There's Olympic spirit since 1896, and shall it be maintained. Also with football."
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)