Chapter 786 - 142: Truce! Wang Shuo Won! Wang Shuo, Come and Claim Your Golden Ball Award! Who Isn’t a Master of Sarcasm?

"He made a public appearance! How is that not a violation?" Blatter was exasperated.

"Their explanation is that Wang Shuo explicitly stated on Twitter that he was injured."

Blatter took out his phone and carefully reread Wang Shuo’s tweet. It indeed said, "During my injury period..."

"God damn it!" Blatter smashed his phone on the spot.

"And what about his public appearance?" Valcke, on the other hand, managed to keep his temper as he asked.

"They said it wasn’t public. Wang Shuo and his agent just went out to eat. They took a picture while passing by and didn’t expect to be swarmed by fans..."

"Then what’s the deal with the reporters?"

"They weren’t notified. The reporters from Fleet Street chased after them. Piccadilly is quite close to Fleet Street." Nichols was clearly very familiar with the layout of London City.

"Moreover, they explicitly stated that as soon as they saw the reporters, they ran and kept hiding..."

Valcke really wanted to curse. "Fuck!" he thought. "Sure, you ran, you hid... but the fucking problem is, you’d have been better off not running or hiding at all! By running like that, you let the whole world know you aren’t injured! Who’s ever seen an injured person sprint that fast? Un-fucking-believable!"

"So, their point is..."

"A coincidence!"

What a fucking coincidence!

"Are you saying we can’t sue?" Blatter felt his blood pressure spike, ready to pop a vein at any moment.

"They definitely had lawyers advising them. I reckon it’s going to be tough. Even if we manage to win in the end, it will certainly be a drawn-out tug-of-war."

"Drawn-out" again! Now, whenever Blatter heard that phrase, it made him want to lose his mind.

Was Wang Shuo doing this on purpose? Absolutely!

Some media outlets had even mapped out a timeline. It was simple. Wang Shuo lived in Hampstead in the northern suburbs. There was clearly a shopping street there, a park, and all the necessary amenities. So why did he insist on going all the way to Piccadilly in Central London for a "chance encounter" with fans?

Furthermore, looking at the timeline, Wang Shuo only left Hampstead right after Blatter made his comments about him. The two events were less than an hour apart. Could it really be such a coincidence?

It was obvious that after hearing Blatter’s speech at the Zurich Opera House, Wang Shuo deliberately traveled from Hampstead to Central London to stage this encounter as revenge. His goal was crystal clear: to let the whole world know he wasn’t injured.

His injury had been fabricated! But why did he have to be injured? Because he refused to attend the award ceremony at the Zurich Opera House and didn’t want to give FIFA an out!

Now, since Blatter had fired the first shot, Wang Shuo was firing back. He had tried to help Blatter save face, but since the man didn’t want it, he could just be humiliated instead! The media had mapped out the entire sequence of events with clear logic and an undeniable timeline. Yet, no one could find a single legal flaw in what Wang Shuo did.

"Wang Shuo has some experts guiding him," Valcke said helplessly.

"I don’t care about any experts! I just want to ruin him, ban him, and preferably make sure he can never play football again for the rest of his life!" Blatter was losing his mind. In all his years at the helm of FIFA, when had anyone ever shat on his head like this?

"Jerome, can we suspend the cooperation agreement?"

"We could. As long as it’s a contract or agreement, there are always loopholes. But the fallout would be extremely troublesome. Moreover, if they sue, we’ll definitely lose, and then..." Valcke trailed off as he looked at Blatter.

It had taken a monumental effort to persuade Wang Shuo to sign this agreement in the first place. Now, the Golden Ball Award ceremony was over, but if they had a falling out and Wang Shuo took FIFA to court, the humiliation would be even worse.

"It’s not worth it, Mr. President," Valcke added, feeling thoroughly exhausted. "Since the agreement is already signed, let’s just execute it. As time passes, things will blow over, and no one will care anymore."

If they continued to kick up a fuss, FIFA would surely gain nothing good from it. Wang Shuo’s side had been well-prepared for every step, leaving them on the back foot from the very beginning. And the biggest issue was Blatter’s big mouth. If he hadn’t made those comments back in Spain, none of this subsequent trouble would have happened.

Fine, the initial problem had been resolved, but then Blatter just had to go and act up again. If he hadn’t gotten carried away with his sarcastic remarks about Wang Shuo at the awards ceremony, would Wang Shuo have deliberately made a public appearance just to slap them in the face? Two could play the passive-aggressive game.

Valcke finally saw things clearly. Blatter was certainly a master at political infighting, and it was a mix of timing and fate that had pushed him to this position. But at his core, he was still an amateur!

There was a saying that was absolutely right. This world really was a fucking clown show!