FIFA condemns Ugandan attack
2010-07-12 21:08
Johannesburg - FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Monday condemned the bombings that killed 70 people watching the World Cup final in Uganda and expressed the hope that soccer could be a force for good around the globe.
"You can never stop in the world crimes, attacks, even when we think that during the World Cup the world should have stopped and the world should only have been touched by the emotions ...that football has given," the head of soccer's governing body told a news conference.
Ugandan authorities blamed Somali Islamists for two attacks in Kampala that killed soccer fans watching the final in which Spain beat the Netherlands to take the trophy on Sunday night.
Asked if the attack would blight African joy over a successful tournament, Blatter said:"I am very sad and I was really really very touched when this morning I heard about this news."
But he added: "Can you link it to the World Cup? I don't know. Naturally it was at a moment when the World Cup was on television but has this something to do with football or not? This is not ours to investigate."
Blatter said violence could not be the responsibility of any international institution.
"We can only look forward to the good movements football can produce in our world."