FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who last month said that there was an increasing trend of ‘modern slavery’ in the football world in recent times, today refused having compared Portugal international and Manchester United player, Christiano Ronaldo, to a ‘slave’.
Presently out on a trip to Vietnam, the controversial President insisted that he never said Ronaldo was a slave.
Blatter tried to avoid being questioned further by saying that he had talked about slavery, but that was regarding the recent practice by many clubs to catch players young, at ages of 13-14 years and keeping them.
Ronaldo’s club, Manchester United, also have a youth academy, where players are trained from 9 years onwards up to the flagship 18 years, having many players, who have won international caps at under-14 and 16 levels.
FIFA President at that time was even backed by Ronaldo, who said he believed what Blatter said was right. However, now Blatter has flatly refused to agree having said anything about the winger and ‘slavery’, saying the press has jumped to immature conclusions.
If Man U manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s angle is to be seen, the Scotsman will be more than happy. The manager, who has spent well above two decades at Old Trafford, accused Real Madrid for their ‘illegal’ pursuit of Ronaldo, before being accused of similar acts by Tottenham Hotspur for his comments about buying Bulgarian international Dimitar Berbatov.
Talking of things at Manchester United, Owen Hargreaves today said that the team is fully fit and raring to go and fight for defending their success in the English as well as the European platforms.
