This is the president of FIFA, mind you.

Yeah, but he apologized for the "insult"

<http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20131029/real-madrid-sepp-blatter-mocks-cristiano-ronaldo-apology.ap/>

^ Only after Cristiano expressed his anger with the issue. An apology doesn't account for the fact that he harassed one of the game's best players in front of a public audience. It is still a blatant insult, and as the president of FIFA, one should be more wary of his comments.

We all have opinions, but saying that Ronaldo has "more expenses for the hairdresser" doesn't seem that bad of an insult, if it is is then maybe Blatter just doesn't seem to like Christiano Ronaldo's hairstyle.

@SoccerBoss

1. Learn to spell his name. It's Cristiano, nor Christiano.

2. If you think that his "hairstyle" comment is what Ronaldo is upset about, you're completely wrong. Go watch the video first, and then comment something productive.

Agreed, Dynastian. An apology in this case isn't enough. People are now aware of who he favors, and it will by certain means affect the captains and coaches decision when they will give their vote. Ridiculous from Blatter – the president of the world's leading football organisation should know better than choosing a player over another in public.

Geez, sorry, I was just kidding about the hair but, the ongoing battles between Ronaldo and Messi never stop. Each person thinks about each player differently, just because Sepp Blatter favors Messi over Ronaldo doesn't mean that Messi is actually better than Ronaldo. As for the apology, if it isn't enough then what else will redeem Blatter's insult, he can't really do much more than just apologize.

@Golden

Amen to that, brother.

@SoccerBoss

It does matter what his opinion is because he is the president of World Football's leading organisation. The Ballon d'Or handed out each year is completely in his control. If he says that he prefers Messi over Ronaldo, and mocks Ronaldo like such in public, it says a lot about who is favored by FIFA and who is looked down upon.

get a sense of humor, jeezus

Pure class asnwer by Ronaldo
<http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2013/10/29/4368772/ronaldo-accuses-blatter-of-messi-bias>

^ At least one of them is professional.

CR7 - "This video shows the respect and consideration that Fifa has for me, my club and my country. Much is explained now. I wish Mr.Blatter health and a long life, with the certainty that he'll continue to witness the successes of his favourite teams and players"

@Dynastian98, so your indirectly saying that because Sepp Blatter favors Messi over Ronaldo, then at least one of the Ballon d'Or's that Messi got happened because Blatter didn't want to give Ronaldo the Ballon d'Or ?

@SoccerBoss

Nope. What I'm saying is that now that everyone KNOWS Blatter prefers Messi over Ronaldo, it will certainly have an effect on the voters. But I cannot say that Messi won Ballon d'Ors unfairly without pointing out that Sneijder and Xavi deserved to win 2010, and that Iniesta deserved to win 2010 and 2012. But of course, the award always goes to the highest scorer ever since Blatter has merged FIFA with the Ballon d'Or. :)

If it was anybody else who said this comment about the two of them then it wouldn't matter at all but being the president of FIFA it would be better to stay a little low profile about this kind of topics. I dont care about the jokes on ronaldo, the only thing he shoudnt have said is he prefers Messi. I still don't think his favouritism could affect the voters for the Ballon dOr not any idiot that changes his mind because of Blatter's opinion can cast a vote.

^ I think this issue is more important for Ronaldo and his fans to others, the number of players who got in touble because they told their preference increases every year, Ronaldo phenomeno told he prefered Messi to Ronaldo,
Marcelo and Higuian had same problems because of that, this Ballon d Or is getting more importance in actual Football, this is a collective sport not a one man army battle, we should take it easy and be free to say our preference...
Every single player who signed past years in Madrid told that Cr7 is the best in the world,or were obliged to.... Mourinho told that until he quit RM, is there any problem to prefer someone over an other and say it ?

@Dynast where is the insults ?

It's Sepp Blatter.

Why are we taking him seriously, again?

guys guys, I'm good boy! may I win ballon d'Or? :))

@tiki_taka

Don't pretend to be ignorant. If you watched the video, you can clearly see the insults.

No one cares if some retired professional says that they prefer Messi over Ronaldo. If Paolo Maldini said that right now, it would not hit the headlines. But if Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA himself, comes up and states that he prefers Messi over Ronaldo, and calls Messi a "good boy every parent would like to have", and mocks Ronaldo like such, it has a serious effect in people's minds. It just goes to show how biased the world's leading organisation has been for the last few years.

@Dynast: I think you make a lot of sense in principle, dude, but in this case I think you greatly overestimate how seriously people take anything that comes from this man's mouth.

I don't think it shows that FIFA have been overly biased towards Messi over Ronaldo as an organization though, either way.

@Lodatz

Perhaps to professionals of the game it may not have much of an effect, but it does have a serious effect on the general public. To them, Ronaldo's image is now tainted as how Blatter has depicted him (since they are unaware of Blatter's constant stupidity). To the mass public, the president of FIFA has just publicly stated that Messi is a "good boy", and the "other one" just has "more expenses for the hairdresser".

@Dynast: Oh, I do get it. Believe me, I do get it. And I would agree, if it were any other man than Sepp Blatter, who I honestly believe is taken about as seriously as an authority figure among the general public as Long John Silver's parrot.

You're absolutely right in that he should not have said it. I just think that, given the circumstances of what a public laughing stock Blatter is, more people will probably stick up for Ronaldo than before. ;)