Sepp Blatter was endorsed by Bayern Munich chair Karl-Heinz Rummenigge yesterday, who said the Fifa president was “ready to change.”

Rummenigge, who leads the European Club Association (ECA) and represents more than 200 of Europe’s leading football clubs, defended Blatter and said he had been hurt by the large amounts of criticism launched his way.

The former West Germany striker also feels that Fifa is changing “in a good way.”

He said: “In discussions we’ve had, I always had the impression he (Blatter) was a bit upset about the fact he is criticised by the media as a whole.

“He’s ready to change. So I’m not so pessimistic about him. I’m quite optimistic that in Fifa things are changing in a good way.”

Blatter is up for a fifth term as Fifa president and is currently the favourite to beat rivals Luis Figo, Michael van Praag and Prince Ali of Jordan.

Rummenigge also commented on the Premier League’s £5 billion TV deal, saying he believes it won’t lead to English teams dominating football financially.

Next season, the team that finishes bottom will pocket £99 million while Bayern Munich received £30m for winning the Bundesliga last year.
And Rummenigge hopes the deal will lead to more leagues signing bigger TV deals.

“I believe the English deal in the end will help us in Germany to get more money as well in the future.

“Football is, from the social point of view, from the interest in it and from the emotion, currently on the best level ever.”