Sepp Blatter banned: Shamelessness and delusion shows why football has turned on the Fifa president

Blatter proclaimed his innocence in an hour-long press conference despite being banned from all football-related activities for eight years

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has been banned from football for eight years by Fifa (Getty Images)

Sepp Blatter tried to defend himself at a press conference this morning, but only showed every reason why football has turned on him. The vanity, the defiance, the shamelessness and the delusion were all there, in four languages, over almost an hour.

But as much as Blatter tried to brazen his way through it – he invoked Nelson Mandela at the very start – this looked like a man who has seen a real response to the eight-year ban from the Fifa ethics committee. The curtain has been brought down on the Blatter era.

Michel Platini received the same punishment, but is younger than Blatter, and could return to the game one day. He has tarnished football less than Blatter – and contributed far more to it too – but will always be stained by his association with Qatar winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup.

Who knows how much of the damage these two men have done to football can be repaired. By encouraging a culture of corruption – which certainly pre-dated them – they have ensured that even their removals will not solve the problem.

Watch Blatter's press conference below...

How much confidence can there be that the men who replace Blatter and Platini will be much better? That may be their greatest sin.