Blatter defends “special” World Cup 12/07/2010 |
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Sepp Blatter has hailed the 2010 World Cup as “special” despite criticism from some quarters about empty seats and the quality of football.
The Fifa president told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek: "Every World Cup has its own history and its own culture.
"It was a World Cup in a new continent with new culture and therefore it must be analysed on different levels.
"If you look at the enthusiasm in South Africa and the TV audiences around the world then it was a special World Cup."
Speaking ahead of Sunday's (July 11) World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands, Blatter claimed it had been a “very attractive and very emotional” tournament, and blamed the disappointing attendance at some games on the poor uptake of hospitality tickets.
"We have had empty seats yes, but not empty stadia,” he added. “Don't forget, 95 per cent of all tickets have been sold.
"There were two cities where we had in two matches not the expected attendances but otherwise if you have seen in some stadia empty seats it came from hospitality.
"There has not been the same enthusiasm for hospitality seats as we have seen in other World Cups."
Responding to allegations the Nigeria team could have been vulnerable to match-fixing, Blatter maintained that the tournament had been "clean".
"There was not one single alarm on match fixing,” he continued. “Not one single alarm in the early warning system also controlled through Interpol."
Fifa said on Sunday night that it expected the audience for the final to be bigger than in 2006, when 700 million people around the world tuned in to watch the game.
Meanwhile, Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the 2010 organising committee, claimed the event had helped change international perceptions of South Africa.
"This World Cup has helped change the image of South Africa – achieved an image makeover of the country, almost a rebranding of the country, and also a demonstration of the capacity of the country,” he said.
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