Blatter and Rogge end dispute (2nd Roundup)

By Andreas Schirmer Jan 13, 2011, 15:59 GMT

Lausanne, Switzerland - Olympic supremo Jacques Rogge on Thursday declared a dispute with football leader Joseph Blatter over after a clear-the-air telephone conversation between the two sports leaders.

The FIFA President Blatter said on Friday in Doha the IOC was 'a club' with no transparency and handled its financial affairs 'like a housewife.'

The International Olympic Committee and FIFA confirmed on Thursday that Blatter had phoned Rogge the previous day.

'The relationship with FIFA is excellent,' said Rogge, speaking of a light incident which was now a matter of the past.

No further details were given, with Rogge saying he did not want to prolong the debate and Blatter not commenting ahead of his departure to American Samoa for the Oceania football confederation congress.

IOC sources said that Blatter, an IOC member himself since 1999, expressed his regret to Rogge but also said that his statements had been interpreted wrongly.

Blatter's comments last week came after corruption allegations against FIFA officials and critical remarks on the issue from Rogge in a German newspaper interview.

'FIFA doesn't have the same rules as us. But it now wants to set up a task force to look into changes. We welcome this, I believe it is necessary,' Rogge told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The IOC ethics committee is looking into the matter as some of the suspected FIFA officials are also in the IOC.

The two leading sports organizations in the world have been at odds over various issues in the past.

FIFA has imposed an age limit for Olympic tournaments which is played at an under-23 level, but failed to go even further with an under-20 plan - seen to protect its own World Cup as much as possible.

The football body also fought for years against recognizing the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the World Anti-Doping Agency before bowing to IOC pressure.

Another potential conflict looms around the 2022 World Cup in Qatar which may be moved from the traditional summer slot to the winter because of the intense summer heat there, possibly close to the Winter Olympics held in February of the same year.

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