Chapter 766 - 140: Last-Minute Equalizer! Sanction FIFA! Wang Shuo, What Do You Want? A Strong Backing to Stay Invincible!

"WOW! Beautifully done, Wang!"

"What a gorgeous goal!"

"My god, such an imaginative goal! I can hardly believe it."

Inside a VIP box at the Emirates Stadium, Henry and the others leaped from their seats the exact moment Wang Shuo scored. Just like the Arsenal fans filling the stadium, they cheered and applauded wildly for his goal.

"Dennis, that goal looks a bit like yours," Henry said with a smile to Bergkamp beside him.

"It does a little. I turned with my back to the attack, whereas he was facing forward, flicked it up with his heel, and struck a volley." Bergkamp paused, genuinely marveling at the sight. "Honestly, I think Wang Shuo’s goal was better than mine."

"I’d say they’re about equal," Pires chimed in, feeling that Bergkamp was being a bit too modest.

The Arsenal legends continued chatting animatedly among themselves.

Sitting nearby, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke and Chief Operating Officer Nichols immediately looked displeased.

Valcke was French, and Nichols held dual citizenship in Chile and England, but neither came from a professional football background. In the world of football, officials like them were typically referred to by a single word: politicians. It was an unspoken rule that the professionals always looked down on the politicians.

Even though they knew Henry, Bergkamp, and the others were deliberately praising Wang Shuo right in front of them, Valcke and Nichols still couldn’t hide their ugly expressions. After all, Wang Shuo’s brilliant performance was clear for all to see. Even a blind man could tell how incredible that last goal was!

The problem was that the situation was escalating. The better Wang Shuo played, the more passive and cornered FIFA became. Valcke and Nichols’s expressions darkened even further.

"A player like Wang Shuo deserves respect!" Valcke muttered, unable to wrap his head around it.

This was an obvious fact, so why on earth had Blatter said those things? To pander to the fans in Spain? Didn’t that just prove he really did hold some implicit bias against Wang Shuo for being from Asia?

Hearing his frustrated remark, Nichols smiled faintly at the Secretary General. "You just haven’t been here long enough."

"What do you mean?" Valcke asked, slightly taken aback.

The two men were roughly the same age; Valcke was born in October 1960, and Nichols in July 1961. Valcke was a typical technical professional who only joined FIFA in 2003 as Director of Marketing and TV. Under his management, FIFA’s revenue had reached new record highs year after year.

Nichols, on the other hand, was a classic nepotism hire. Born in July 1961, he had started as a spokesperson for the Chile Football Association in July 1991, moved to FIFA as a spokesperson in 1993, and had been juggling roles between the Chile Football Association and FIFA ever since.

"Given the personality and capability required to sit in that seat, do you really think he would say those things for no reason?" Nichols asked. Inside FIFA, Nichols was entirely dedicated to press relations and dealing with the media. He knew exactly what Blatter said and did like the back of his hand. Often, he was even the one who had to clean up his messes.

"Are you saying..."

"Asia has always been restless. They’ve been kicking up a fuss constantly over the past few years," Nichols said, stopping there, but Valcke immediately read between the lines.

Blatter had taken office as FIFA President in 1998. In July 1999, the FIFA Congress was held in Los Angeles, United States. During this congress, an incident occurred that completely humiliated the newly appointed Blatter: all the representatives from Asia staged a mass walkout!

Their reason was that Blatter had failed to honor his pre-election promise in 1998 to grant Asian teams more direct qualification spots for the World Cup. Why had he failed to deliver? Because giving more spots to Asia meant taking them away from other continents, and Blatter simply couldn’t pull it off.

How fierce was the backlash back then? The leader of Asia at the time was FIFA Vice President and South Korea Football Association President Chung Mongjoon. They had coordinated with Japan and threatened to boycott—even abandon—the 2002 Korea and Japan World Cup. It was fortunate that information didn’t travel as fast back then and the internet wasn’t truly a thing yet. Otherwise, it would have caused a global uproar.

How was the situation ultimately resolved? Valcke hadn’t joined FIFA yet, so he wasn’t clear on the exact negotiations, and no one spoke of it afterward. However, in 2002, the South Korea team made a historic run to the World Cup semi-finals, and Japan also reached the Round of 16.

From then on, though, Blatter’s relationship with Asia only grew worse. The most glaring example was the draw for the 2010 South Africa World Cup, where the Asian teams were entirely drawn into Groups of Death. AFC President Hammam and others had also consistently played the role of Blatter’s opposition.

"Let me put it this way: he will never apologize for this matter, no matter what," Nichols continued.

"Over the years, he’s misspoken so many times and caused so many blunders. Have you ever seen him apologize once?"

Blunders? For a global sports political heavyweight who had manipulated power for decades and excelled at balancing the interests of all parties, how could there possibly be such inexplicable blunders? Behind every "slip of the tongue" was his meticulous planning and calculation.

Apologize? Impossible!

If he apologized, both the authority of FIFA and Blatter’s personal authority would be severely weakened. In a way, it would spell the end of his tenure as FIFA President.

"So what do we do now?" Valcke asked, feeling a headache coming on.