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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln><DIV class=title>FIFA chief: Soccer jeopardized by violence, corruption, financial agendas</DIV></TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><STYLE type=text/css> td.yspwidearticlebody { font-size: 13.5px; }</STYLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspwidearticlebody>By SHEILA NORMAN-CULP, Associated Press Writer
<SPAN class=ysptimedate>March 26, 2007</SPAN>
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- FIFA is turning a profit at an unprecedented rate, yet soccer's governing body appears to be making little headway toward wiping out the violence and corruption that threaten the integrity of the sport.
Faced with this paradox, FIFA president Sepp Blatter says soccer must embark on an ambitious plan to rescue itself.
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</NOSCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"We have come to the crossroads of football," he declared Friday after two days of meetings of FIFA's executive committee. "Our football is ill and we must find medicine to give to our sport."
That warning came during a news conference in which FIFA revealed that its finances had dramatically improved over the last four years, buoyed by the financial success of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Since the World Cup -- watched by a cumulative audience estimated at 26.3 billion -- soccer has seen a series of violent episodes, including riots in France, a brawl between Arsenal and Chelsea at the English League Cup final and the death of an Italian policeman at a match in February. Valencia defender David Navarro was suspended for seven months for his part in a brawl at a European Champions League match.
"Where is football going if players are at each other's throats?" Blatter said. "If the players are not educated, if the coaches don't place a minimum of discipline on them, there is cause for worry."
Blatter also vowed to return integrity to the sport following the refereeing or corruption scandals that plagued Germany, Italy and other nations last year.
"We need to help the referees, they are the guardians of ethics," he said.
The vast sums of money involved in international soccer have likely led to some of the sport's ethical problems, the FIFA president opined.
"In French, we say 'Money makes people go mad.' There is some truth to that," Blatter said.
But he said there was no excuse for wealthy clubs locking up talent by
<SPAN class=ysptimedate>March 26, 2007</SPAN>
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- FIFA is turning a profit at an unprecedented rate, yet soccer's governing body appears to be making little headway toward wiping out the violence and corruption that threaten the integrity of the sport.
Faced with this paradox, FIFA president Sepp Blatter says soccer must embark on an ambitious plan to rescue itself.
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That warning came during a news conference in which FIFA revealed that its finances had dramatically improved over the last four years, buoyed by the financial success of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Since the World Cup -- watched by a cumulative audience estimated at 26.3 billion -- soccer has seen a series of violent episodes, including riots in France, a brawl between Arsenal and Chelsea at the English League Cup final and the death of an Italian policeman at a match in February. Valencia defender David Navarro was suspended for seven months for his part in a brawl at a European Champions League match.
"Where is football going if players are at each other's throats?" Blatter said. "If the players are not educated, if the coaches don't place a minimum of discipline on them, there is cause for worry."
Blatter also vowed to return integrity to the sport following the refereeing or corruption scandals that plagued Germany, Italy and other nations last year.
"We need to help the referees, they are the guardians of ethics," he said.
The vast sums of money involved in international soccer have likely led to some of the sport's ethical problems, the FIFA president opined.
"In French, we say 'Money makes people go mad.' There is some truth to that," Blatter said.
But he said there was no excuse for wealthy clubs locking up talent by
