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Maldini Blasted FIFA President Sepp Blatter The former Italian skipper accused Blatter of anti-Italian Bias	By Ovidiu Panzariu, Sports Editor 7th of September 2006, 10:14 GMT Adjust text size:


Being the head of FIFA often means dealing with immense criticism from national federations. And it's only natural for that to happen, since you can't please everybody. Still, when being blasted by one of the most impressive players of the last decade, it surely does raise some questions. Paolo Maldini, the man who played 126 games for Squadra Azzura and led the Italian side in 4 World Cup tournaments, launched a serious attack on Sepp Blatter, accusing him of anti-Italian bias. The reason is simple. Although he was supposed to award the Azzurri with the WC trophy, Blatter appointed UEFA president Lennart Johansson to the job. "What really bothered me was the way FIFA treated us in Berlin. Blatter didn't want to award us and said this has been a scandal which our federation didn't react to. I have never seen anything like it. What is even worse is that Blatter keeps expressing very harsh comments about Italian football. Now I understand why we never won as much as we deserved to in the past. It's mainly a political issue", said Maldini in an interview for Panorama magazine. The AC Milan captain believes that Blatter didn't want to award the trophy himself because of the Calciopoli scandal that has been going on inside Serie A at that time. Although the investigations were under way, Blatter did not agree with FIGC (Italian Football Federation) moving so slow. More, Maldini blasted former Juventus legend Michel Platini for being influenced by international officials. "Michel Platini has always been considered a person who always says what he thinks. Now he's really bounded to what others think and say. I never like him when he talks", concluded Maldini. Platini recently decided to run against Lennart Johansson as future president of UEFA.

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