Vladimir Putin Says Sepp Blatter Deserves Nobel Peace Prize

Russian president Vladimir Putin believes FIFA president Sepp Blatter deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing football around the world.

Blatter, who is the target of an ongoing FBI corruption investigation centered on the organisation's decision to hand the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively, is currently suspended from his duties.

But Putin believes the Swiss is deserving of the honour, despite the investigation, per Reuters (for the Guardian):

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Whether there are signs of corruption in Fifa, the investigation must show. As for Joseph Blatter, he is a very respected person, he has done a lot for the development of world soccer.

He has always tried to treat football not as a sport but as an element of cooperation between countries and peoples. He is the one who must be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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Despite the multitude of controversies surrounding the 79-year-old—ESPN FC have compiled an extensive list of the scandals that have so far been revealed—there's no denying world football has undergone an incredible transformation under Blatter's watch.

FIFA has emphasised the development of the game in countries that weren't considered football hotbeds decades ago, awarding major tournaments to nations like South Africa, Japan and South Korea.

One of the reasons Blatter has been in power for so long—he was elected president in 1998—is the incredible support he receives from African and Asian nations, and for good reason.

Per the Guardian's Vivek Chaudhary, he has done a lot for some of football's smaller nations:

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He has built on the work of his predecessor, the Brazilian Joao Havelange, to move Fifa away from its origins when it was little more than a private club for rich European nations where those from Africa, Asia and the Americas were shabbily treated and had no say in how it was run.

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Of course, it's hard to overlook the mountain of corruption charges that currently plague the organisation, and as its president, Blatter is seen as the man who is mainly responsible for the dire state FIFA finds itself in.

Putin hit back at the allegations Russia may have not won the rights to host the 2018 World Cup fairly, and he also took a shot at the authorities behind the investigation:

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We know firmly one thing – that we received the right to host the World Cup in an absolutely honest and competitive fight.

Not a single country has the right to spread its jurisdiction to other states, to say nothing of international organisations.

This does not mean at all that one should not fight corruption ... but we believe this practice, when in various parts of the world they snatch foreign citizens and drag them out to be interrogated and prosecuted, is unacceptable.

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While some fans and pundits may raise their eyebrows at the idea of handing a man as controversial as Blatter the Nobel Peace Prize, it wouldn't be the first major award he received this year.

As reported by Politico's Cynthia Kroet, magazine Die Weltwoche has already named Blatter as their "Swiss of the Year."

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