The thoughts of Sepp

Blatter said: "England will say this tour is also a promotion for their country. I am not going to say they should not go.

"But if countries use up all the dates when the players should be resting, they must not be surprised if they have injured players."

Blatter on...

Football's agents

Although FIFA license agents, they are supposed to be policed by the national associations who watch the commission agents take in transfer deals. Blatter admitted football is finding it very hard to control the whole situation.

He said: "Once you are licensed, you can have people working for you and therefore there is a multitude of agents around the world.

"I don't know how to bring them back into a controllable group internationally. Agents are a problem. We are trying but it is not easy."

Blatter on...

World Cup referees

Some of the refereeing at the 2002 World Cup finals was "appalling" admitted Blatter, but the system of appointing officials for next year's finals has been radically changed.

Teams of referees and linesmen, who regularly work with each other, have been put together for the tournament and are already attending regular training seminars in Germany.

He said: "They will only work in trios that have been pre-selected. We have been tough on them so that there is uniformity of the interpretation of the laws. I take part of the responsibility for last time. I hope we will have the best referees on the market and avoid the kind of situations we had in 2002."

Blatter believes the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is set to make more money from TV rights than next year's tournament.

He said: "The projection is that the interest in the market will be higher than the value obtained in Germany in 2006. The World Cup ratings are higher than the Olympic Games and people realise it is a good product with teams with national identity which is no longer the case in most clubs.

"The market also trusts the organisation of the South Africans."

Blatter on...

Goal-line technology

The FIFA president says revolutionary technology showing whether a ball has crossed the goal-line will be ready for next year's World Cup finals.

Blatter confirmed Standard Sport's story in February that adidas is aiming to get a system in place for the finals, which begin on 9 June 2006. It will involve balls being fitted with electronic chips which send bleeps to a device in the referee's ear when the ball has crossed the line.

He said: "I am convinced it will be ready for the World Cup."

Blatter pointed to the controversy surrounding Liverpool's goal against Chelsea in the second leg of their European Cup semi-final as a reason why TV cameras should never be used to help referees on goal-line disputes.

Blatter said: "They had 12 cameras there and you could not see. We believe the human side of the game should be kept.

"We did do experiments with two referees on the field and it's not a bad idea. But the referees were against it. They want to be the boss alone."

Blatter on...
Drugs in the game

Blatter admitted FIFA still appear to be on a collision course with governments under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over their anti-drugs rules.

FIFA are determined to keep largely to a six-month ban for serious offences and to deal with each doping case on its own merit. WADA want to get international federations to introduce uniform two-year bans for serious drugs across all sports.

The FIFA president has just received a letter from European Sports Ministers following a recent meeting in Luxembourg attended by Britain's Richard Caborn. It called on football's governing body to conform to WADA rules.

Clearly, there is still disagreement between WADA and FIFA. Blatter said: "We do follow the rules."

He ruled out teams being punished for the doping offences of individuals in their squads.

However, he added: "If four or five players tested positive then there would be sanctions against one team. But we have never arrived at a situation like that."