Olympic boycott would not benefit anyone, says head of FIFA
FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — FIFA president Sepp Blatter opposes a boycott of the Beijing Olympics in the belief nobody would benefit from such a move, the German Football Federation (DFB) on Monday reported the head of world football's governing body as saying.
"A boycott has never benefited anybody - athletes in particular," the DFB quoted Blatter as saying in an interview published on its website.
"If one wants to help the Chinese people - then the athletes should be there.
"And football will make an extraordinary contribution, as the preliminary round matches will not only take place in Beijing," said Blatter.
"We will bring along the Olympic spirit, the Olympic ideal. That is good for the (host) country and for its population," Blatter concluded.
Despite widespread international outrage over Beijing's repression of protests in Tibet, Blatter insisted that "it is not for me to comment on political occurrences."
Also in his interview, Blatter said he believed it was time for the Olympic football tournament to be restricted to young players.
"I am of the opinion that the Olympics are an event aimed at young people. When football sends its best players aged 23 and under we have a high quality tournament," Blatter told the DFB, adding that FIFA would like to bring the age threshold down below 23 in due course.
Last month International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge had expressed the hope that "all the stars of football participate (one day) in the Olympic Games."
Under current rules professional players per team aged over 23 can feature.
