Zee Sports' Mayanti Langer carried out an exclusive TV interview with FIFA president Sepp Blatter ahead of his upcoming India visit in mid-April 2007 at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich.
Zee Sports has kindly made the transcript of the interview available to us at IndianFootball.Com.
We thank them for that and hope you enjoy it!

Sir, for us football fans we can only what imagine but how does it feel to be in charge of the most beautiful game in the world?

I think I am the most lucky man in the world because I have been a footballer since my first steps when I started to kick a ball and it was always my wish that I could be in charge of a club.
But to be now the head of FIFA when football is really more than a game but an institution, well known, well respected and happy and I can say that I have realized what few men can realize because to combine what is your beloved game and in the same time have a job.

Exactly as you said it is such a universal game, so you yourself specified that developing the game to help developing the nations, we have seen the result of recent success of the African nations in the World Cup and you mentioned in India being a sleeping giant for you and now your focus is on India.

Absolutely, absolutely because this is a world game and everybody is touched by the fascination of this game and the fascination of this game is based on the instinctive movement of the human being to kick, this is an instinctive moment to non-born child this kicking by saying I want to be a soccer player or a football player and then it is so easy because it is linked with the ball and the ball in this same time is the globe and just to kick this ball but when you kick you loose your equilibrium and also it is the most popular game because the objective is to put this ball somewhere what is called a goal. Goal is the objective; it can be between two stones, it can be in a net whatever but just to put it there and this game has developed all around the world. This game obviously is also a game for India, for more than one billion people when you say we are going to wake up a sleeping giant, I think you're right.

But talking about your visit to India, one focus would be on the fact that India does not currently have a fully professional league system and that is important for the development of the game. Isn't it?

Definitely, definitely you need professional league because you are such a huge country but what is important is you need the infrastructure, the technical infrastructure and what you need also the administrative infrastructure to organize the football starting with the players, with the clubs and then different regions. And finally the federation where a national team should be then once again in the international focus and why not participating in the World Cup.

FIFA does have many guidelines for the governments and licensing of these clubs why so, why is it so important to have such things?

You see there is a pyramid in the football organization and the basis of the football organization is the club because they have been the players and the players play together. These clubs are so important because these clubs they make the union and this forms a league. It's important the clubs have an identification in the cities where the clubs are playing.

You have hit upon the world's identification and you are well aware of the kind of craziness, passion certainly which India has, especially Kolkata, so this is something that we as Indians also realize that we need to build it all across our country, we need to find that loyalty fuel that rivalry.

Yes definitely, you know where specially Kolkata is the city where for many years tournaments have been organized and they are so popular and I am now happy to witness myself one of these games on Sunday afternoon and to be in the stadium when I don't know how many thousands and thousands of people will be there. As a development officer or a technical director in FIFA, I went to Madras and to Bangalore around 78 or 79 with Dr. Havelange, later we were at the New Delhi for the Asian Games also with Dr. Havelange in 82 and now its 25 years later, its like a small jubilee and I have to come back to India.

Why did FIFA decide to put their focus on the sub-continent specially India, what does India have to offer?

Two thirds of the world population is living in Asia and you have two giants, one is China and another one is India and when you look at the development of football in the region we have realized that one of the giants has not yet got the outburst of the football culture. I am sure its there and the talent is there and therefore its not now that we look at India few years ago we started to think about India. In combination with the AFC where they started Vision Asia and Vision India, we are now combining our efforts to help the organisation in India but before taking any measures, speaking about measures, what can we do is to make an inventory. After our official visit I am sure there will be a technical committee who make a report on where we help to make sure that India do have a footballing organization deserved by such a big nation.

But one of the problems we ourselves know is the fact that we don't get enough international exposure, we recently hosted the Asian Under-20 championships which is a great way for us to see what the Asian countries are doing but in the future could there be some FIFA tournaments where sub-continent India could host?

Yes it depends, on the initiative of AIFF together with the support of the government, we have lot of possibilities to offer to India - such as the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cup. We have women's football, you know women's football must be very popular there because this famous movie Bend It Like Beckham where an India girls plays the big part.
It is an initiative to be taken by the federation to organize something but definitely we would be happy if the technical infrastructure is adequate we will be happy to organize something in India and speaking about the international exposure, I thank Zee Television to be the first today to support football in India.
You know to have better exposure, it will take some time because India if you look at different sports, myself as a former as a sports journalist, I knew India from cricket and from hockey and cricket still plays a very important part, it's a legacy from Great Britain but the world legacy should be football. I would be very happy as the President on the road for the next four years that I could do something and leave the legacy that I was instrumental, not just me but FIFA, was instrumental to make out of the Indian sub-continent a true footballing country.

In Indian society the women's role is being constantly redefined, do you have any special plans for women's football?

Yes to open football also to girls and women as it has been done in other cultures and if it is possible now to have a women's football played in the Arabic countries or in countries where state religions are a little bit difficult for the development of women in sport - they do it now.
So why shouldn't India do it and because I am sure that Indian girls with their natural qualities of elegance, dancing abilities, they will be an enrichment to women's football.
You know that once in 1995 I have said that the future football would be feminine and it is because now all around the world this game is played. Even if sometimes, it is played we say in the closed environment but everybody can kick and that's why in football women shall have the same possibilities as men and boys.
And more than that you know and for the team sports girls and women play handball, basketball and volleyball but if you are not tall... in football everybody can play and I know in India not everybody is very tall, you would be a wonderful player.

Thank you
One of the problems is our climate with our monsoon and heat, what are your proposals for all weather pitches?

This is the future for football not only in India but everywhere where the climatic conditions prevent using natural grass during the whole year. Artificial turf will be future of football, the new technology and the new quality concept we have created at FIFA make sure that it is not like playing on the carpet, but it is a flexible surface for play.
Definitely, there are no more excuses for players to say to the coach that the field was uneven and we could not control the ball, no more excuses for the technical development of football, artificial pitches will be a step forward.

What are you expecting in Kolkata and Delhi because a generation has passed since you were in India?

I expect big support from your government authorities and I met the speaker of your Parliament during the World Cup in Germany, Mr. Somnath Chatterjee.
He told me that you must come and see 50 million young people playing football; please come and look at this continent. This was the invitation and now we are going to meet the President & the Prime Minister and we are going to meet the economic heads.
And I would also like to meet some football players and coaches, referees and take the temperature how football is seen there.
I am sure somewhere we will talk about women's football which is important and through football women can gain more social recognition. This is good because today our sport is not just a game, it is more than that. We have more than 250 million active participants. Our sport touches the cultural aspect, the social aspect and the economic aspect and even the political aspect. So we are part of society. My aim for the future is FIFA takes this responsibility to help make a better future.

How important is the corporate community in football?

I think we will be able to convince them on the popularity of our game, exposure of our game, but for exposure you need television. The combination between television and football has finally brought this importance of football. We offer television the best ever spectacle, the best theatre. You only need cameras, no show master because we offer everything. You need to have passion and you need to have fans and this is like the Greek classical theatre. The difference in our theatre is we never know the results.

Any message you would like to send before you arrive?

Please believe in the good of our game and believe that football is also an educational tool and an entertainment and let's be a little bit more entertaining.
And I hope that India will think that football is a school of life.