FIFA Confirm Blatter Won't Attend Women’s World Cup Final

Sepp Blatter will miss his first FIFA Women’s World Cup final since becoming president in 1998 because of “current commitments”, a spokesperson confirmed.

The decision follows weeks of uncertainty over whether Blatter or secretary general Jerome Valcke, who pulled out of attending the opening here in Canada on June 6, would show up to the final in Vancouver on Sunday.

After a report that Blatter’s lawyer Richard Cullen had said the Swiss had told organisers he would not attend, a FIFA spokesperson confirmed the news on Tuesday.

They said: “Due to their current commitments in Zurich, the FIFA President and the FIFA Secretary General will remain at the FIFA headquarters.”

World football’s governing body has been in crisis since the revelations last month by a US Department of Justice investigation into corruption in world soccer which led to several FIFA officials being arrested in Zurich. An investigation by Swiss authorities into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes has also been launched.

Blatter has long prided himself on being a champion of women’s football. But his absence from the final and also the FIFA Women’s Football Symposium in Vancouver from July3-5 will be seen by some as a snub to the women’s game.

FIFA vice president and head of the African football confederation Issa Hayatou will perform the presidential duties at the final at BC Place. To date, he has been the most senior executive committee member present in Canada.

Blatter’s no show may also be of significant concern to organisers who would have hoped that his presence would have elevated the tournament’s stature even more.

The Canada 2015 organising committee are still hopeful of reaching their pre-tournament goal of 1.5 million spectators.