Q: Sepp Blatter and two of his top chiefs are all together in a car. Who’s driving? A: THE POLICE
JOKE THAT GOT FIFA AIDE IN HOT WATER
FIFA’s reputation as a joke organisation was underlined yesterday when one of sepp Blatter’s chief aides left his job after making a gag at t he outgoing president’s expense.
Director of communications Walter De Gregorio — one of the people closest to Blatter — parted company with FIFA days after he made the wisecrack on swiss TV.
Asked to tell his favourite FIFA joke at the end of a talkshow, De Gregorio (below) said: ‘The FIFA president, secretary general and communications director are in a car. Who’s driving? … The Police.’
such flippancy amid the current crisis is said to have particularly annoyed Blatter’s external PR advisor and longtime friend Klaus stohlker. And although the joke was not the only reason De Gregorio left ‘by mutual consent’, it is believed to have played a key part. A statement said he had decided to ‘relinquish his office with immediate effect’. Insiders claim he was axed by Blatter.
His exit, after four years as Blatter’s chief spokesman, is another blow to an organisation being torn apart by the corruption scandal.
stohlker, who describes Blatter as a ‘dear and faithful person’, has never been a fan of De Gregorio. He said last week: ‘That Blatter does not enjoy the best image could, among many other things, be connected to Walter De Gregorio, who again and again makes unfortunate remarks about FIFA and Blatter.’
Yet it was De Gregorio who fronted up alone at the FIFA press conference on t hat momentous day last month that saw double raids by the swiss and the Americans, multiple corruption charges and two criminal investigations.
De Gregorio was ridiculed for saying: ‘It’s a good day, the president i s relaxed.’ But he was doing his best in unprecedented circumstances, trying to defend the indefensible without any support in front of the world’s media baying for Blatter’s blood.
And the PR chief was relaxed enough despite the crisis to take his family to Berlin last weekend to watch their club Juventus lose the Champions League final to Barcelona.
But in meetings with Blatter on Wednesday night and again yesterday morning, the relationship between the pair broke down to the extent De Gregorio left the building immediately afterwards. He will stay as a consultant until December.
The major disagreement was over Blatter’s d a mage limitation strategy. The president wanted to go on the f r ont f oot and make TV appearances, while De Gregorio was urging him to keep quiet.
There was also some element of self- preservation i n De Gregorio walking, as he knew the longer he stayed spinning for a toxic president, the more likely it will be some of the poison would stick with him.
secretary general Jerome Valcke said: ‘Walter has worked incredibly hard for the past four years and we are immensely grateful for all he has done. I am glad we will be able to continue to draw on his expertise until the end of the year.’
Minister for sport Tracey Crouch and the European Parliament joined the growing clamour for Blatter to leave immediately. FIFA yesterday confirmed that an election to replace him will take place some time between December and February. But MEPs in strasbourg gave overwhelming support to a resolution that FIFA should elect an interim leader.
Meanwhile, PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor says players must become the guardians of football in the wake of the crisis. Taylor, who is also the honorary president of world players’ union FIFPro, said: ‘The game has been tainted and besmirched with corruption at the highest level by custodians who have feathered their own nests.
‘The time is here to clean out the corruption and to place ourselves at the top table as guardians of the game. If we do not i ntervene now we will forever regret it. A game for players and about players has not been run by players — and we are now seeing the results.’