Chapter 776 - 141: Cruyff Turn! The Emperor’s New Clothes! Hellish Christmas Schedule! Respect Isn’t Earned by Begging on Your Knees

Most importantly, the expression on his face and the look in his eyes betrayed his current state of mind—pure anxiety.

"What did they say?"

Valcke shook his head. "Their attitude is extremely resolute. They demand that we issue a public apology and retract our previous statements."

Hearing this, Blatter slammed both fists onto the desk in front of him, making the office supplies and his computer rattle wildly.

"Did you convey to them that as long as it doesn’t involve an apology, everything else is negotiable? We could even create a special award for him, arrange a position within FIFA, or give him whatever else he wants..."

Valcke narrowed his eyes. "I did, but Wang Shuo’s agent, Thomas Essien, personally told Adidas that his player only wants an apology and absolutely nothing else!"

For some unknown reason, as Valcke and Nichols looked at Blatter at this very moment, an inexplicable sense of satisfaction welled up in their hearts.

Especially for Nichols. As FIFA’s Media Director, he had spent countless hours cleaning up Blatter’s messes. Over the past few years, Blatter had said whatever he pleased. Although it was always driven by various interests, his unfiltered remarks had endlessly tormented his subordinates.

They wondered, "You are the president, and your interests are satisfied, but what about us?"

Now that someone could actually put Blatter in his place, it felt remarkably like sweet revenge. In fact, according to their public opinion surveys, the reason the uproar outside was so fierce was because many people wanted to retaliate against FIFA and Blatter himself.

"He doesn’t want anything else!" Blatter gritted his teeth. "Does he truly want absolutely nothing?"

This statement was exactly like a matchmaker hearing a client say, ’I don’t have any specific requirements...’ Good God, that was absolutely the most despair-inducing thing to hear!

But Blatter truly had no way out right now. He had absolutely zero leverage over Wang Shuo!

Wang Shuo played in the Premier League, which theoretically placed him beyond FIFA’s control.

UEFA President Platini used to have a very close relationship with Blatter, but that had begun to change over the past two years. Especially in the last year. Platini had been staunchly opposed to Blatter’s decision to advance the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting rights. Therefore, UEFA was currently completely uncooperative with FIFA.

As for The Football Association and the Premier League? You must be joking. Between the 2018 World Cup bid and the Terry racism incident, Blatter had thoroughly offended them to their core. They were probably praying for Wang Shuo to make a fool out of Blatter.

And the sponsors? Blatter had personally made a phone call to Adidas’s Herbert Hainer. And guess what Hainer had said?

"You want us to threaten Wang Shuo? Are you out of your mind? Do you know how massive the China market is? Do you realize how important it is to us?

"Wang Shuo is currently the most influential star in the China market. We went to immense lengths to sign him, paying ten million euros in sponsorship fees every year. Do you really think we have any leverage over Wang Shuo?

"Believe it or not, if he were to step forward right now and say he wanted to terminate his contract with us, Nike, Puma, and other brands would immediately swarm him.

"So, when it comes to this matter, our hands are completely tied!"

In truth, Blatter originally had one final trump card. It was the same move he had used against South Korea and Japan back in the day—the World Cup.

Huaxia hadn’t managed to break into the World Cup yet, had they?

The problem was that FIFA couldn’t control the Asian Football Confederation either, so they had no way to help Huaxia enter the World Cup finals. Besides, Wang Shuo wasn’t even on the national team at the moment.

After Blatter and his team had run themselves in circles exploring every option, they realized that their only remaining leverage over Wang Shuo was the Golden Ball Award!

But now Wang Shuo had stated that he couldn’t care less about the Golden Ball Award!

He didn’t care? Well, there had to be someone who did!

At this thought, Blatter looked up at Valcke again. "Ronaldo and Messi should be coming, right?"

In today’s global football scene, Wang Shuo, Ronaldo, and Messi were the three biggest superstars in the spotlight. Wang Shuo was red-hot at the moment, but Ronaldo and Messi weren’t far behind. If Ronaldo and Messi attended, it could somewhat offset the impact of Wang Shuo’s absence.

"We have communicated with Real Madrid and Bar?a, but they still can’t confirm their schedules yet."

"What do you mean?" Blatter asked, growing slightly annoyed. He might have offended Wang Shuo, but he certainly hadn’t offended Ronaldo or Messi.

"Mr. President." Valcke hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to tell the truth.

Blatter caught on, immediately nodding and listening intently.

"Almost everyone knows that Wang Shuo is going to win the award. Since he refuses to attend, what would Ronaldo and Messi even do if they showed up? Wouldn’t it be incredibly awkward for them?

"Public opinion out there is fierce right now. Even if we desperately try to put out the fires, would they really come just to accept second and third place? All while the rightful winner of the Golden Ball Award is absent?

"Or are you suggesting we just shove the Golden Ball Award into one of their hands? Do you really think they would see that as a good thing?"

Originally, all three were top-tier stars competing on the exact same level. Now, if an award rejected by Wang Shuo was forced onto Ronaldo or Messi, would they even accept it? If Wang Shuo wouldn’t come to accept the award, why would they?

Setting aside whether it would demean their status, just think about one thing: if word got out, how would the media, the fans, and the sponsors view them?

If Wang Shuo was winning second or third place instead of the Golden Ball Award, it wouldn’t really matter. If he didn’t show up, he didn’t show up.

But Wang Shuo was the main character right now! If the main character didn’t show up, what was the point of the supporting cast being there?

As a technocrat, Valcke had already put things as directly and clearly as possible. And Blatter understood perfectly.

"Jerome is absolutely right, Mr. President," Nichols chimed in from the side.