How do you treat a bully like Sepp Blatter?

Sepp Blatter really doesn’t like the FA (English football Association) does he?

The President of FIFA, the international ruling body, has insisted that English football players cannot wear the poppy, a sign of remembrance, on their shirts for the friendly match at Wembley on Saturday.

Hiding behind the ‘rules’, I absolutely believe that Blatter is delighted to have yet another opportunity to have a dig at the Brits.

My daughter – who is my voice of reason, censor and editor, tells me that I really can’t voice my true feelings for Mr Blatter in this blog. ‘Incitement to violence’ was the warning phrase she shot across my bows when I blogged about the world cup bid fiasco.

Suffice to say – Mr Blatter is one of my least favourite people on this planet. In terms of my absolute contempt, he ranks only slightly below healthcare assistants, nurses and doctors who are mean to patients and anyone who hurts a helpless animal.

FIFA is a shambles. The world cup last year was a shambles. (South Africa put on a great show but FIFA failed its worldwide audience badly) The bidding process for the world cup 2018 and 2022 was a shambles.

So Mr Blatter – rather than bother about the English team paying their respects to generations of young men and women who gave their lives for their country – I would like you to address the following:

Corruption in FIFA: now proven

Bad refereeing: The brilliant Brazilian player Kaka was sent off after an Ivory Coast player, Keita, feigned an attack to his face, and even though this injustice was clearly viewed in TV replays, the one match ban remained.

Bad sportsmanship: As above – plus the pathetic diving, writhing in agony and clutching various parts of the body in mock anguish that cheating footballers use to illicit unwarranted red and yellow cards for their opponents.

Corruption: Yes – it is worthy of two mentions. 2018 World Cup – Russia, 2022 World Cup – Qatar. I rest my case.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge has had the courage to write to FIFA telling them that he is ‘dismayed’ at their decision.  A quote from his representatives goes on ‘The Duke’s strong view is the poppy is a universal symbol of remembrance, which has no political, religious or commercial connotations’. His Highness is currently top of my list of favourite people…

Well done Prince William!

But back to Sepp Blatter. He is a bully. (At this point you will understand why I haven’t shown this blog to my daughter before posting).

So how do you deal with bullies? There are several options for the FA:

1)     Do nothing and suffer in silence - Please let it not be this option

2)     Take your concerns to a higher authority in the hope that they can sort it out - Prince William and David Cameron have tried but FIFA have shown previously their contempt for such worthy advocates.

3)     Reach  a compromise to co-exist - This is the FA’s current stand. They are suggesting measures that are almost laughable – filming the training sessions on 11/11 to show the players wearing poppies/black armbands on the day/wreath in the middle of the pitch before play/bla bla

4)     Walk away - we really don’t want to see the end of an English football team do we?

5)     Confront the bully – they are usually cowards and often back down. My preferred option, wear the poppies – what can FIFA do?

So I’m off the fence on this one. Come on England and the FA – take a stand and let the team wear their poppies with pride.

This blog is dedicated to all servicemen and women, all over the world, who lost their lives fighting for their countries with a special mention for submariner Daniel Craig Reid, NBC, who survived his war, but who carried his memories of the conflict for a lifetime.