Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini said Napoli have first say on Josip Ilicic, but extraordinarily suggested “Sepp Blatter is racist against Italians!”
Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini said Napoli have first say on Josip Ilicic, but extraordinarily suggested “Sepp Blatter is racist against Italians!”
The patron is absolutely no stranger to controversy and made the comments on Radio Kiss Kiss. This week FIFA President Blatter stated a €50,000 fine to Roma for racist chanting against Mario Balotelli was insufficient.
“Did you see the big deal Blatter made about the racist chanting at Balotelli? As if we were racists. But the real racist is him,” said Zamparini, whose Palermo have been relegated.
“Do you know how much of a racist Blatter is? Can’t you see how he looks us up and down? Don’t you remember that when we won the World Cup he didn’t want to hand us the trophy?
“What do you call someone who detests Italians? He didn’t go to the World Cup ceremony. You are afraid of telling the truth. The new world must begin with people always telling the truth. He should be kicked up the backside, just like Michel Platini. Red tape is taking football over.”
Blatter did not hand over the World Cup trophy in Berlin in 2006, as he remained in the stands and sent then-UEFA President Lennart Johansson to perform this duty.
At the time, it was said this was because “it was an all-European Final,” but the situation was never entirely clarified.
Meanwhile, Zamparini also revealed the bidding war over midfielder Ilicic does have a favourite.
“Napoli have the priority over the others. We’ve had a discussion on various Palermo players, so if the conditions are equal, then Napoli have the priority over everyone else.”
Slovenian international Ilicic is wanted by the likes of Juventus, Roma, Milan, Fiorentina, Arsenal, Tottenham and Zenit.