Some European draws fixed: Blatter

Zurich: World football’s governing body Fifa’s former president Sepp Blatter has sensationally claimed that some European draws were fixed using “hot and cold balls”. However, he has stated during his long tenure as the Fifa president none of the draws at the world level were pre-decided.

“I never touched the balls,” Blatter was quoted as saying by Argentine newspaper La Nacion on Monday. “Of course, you can mark them [by] heating them or cooling them. I witnessed draws at the European level where that happened. But never at Fifa. Of course it can be done.” Blatter said some of the balls were stored in the refrigerator to differentiate between the teams.