Fifa boss Sepp Blatter has cancelled plans to visit New Zealand for this weekend's Under-20 World Cup final in Auckland, world football`s governing body said today.
"Due to his current commitments in Zurich the Fifa President [Blatter] will not be able to travel to New Zealand to attend the final of the Fifa U-20 World Cup," a Fifa spokesperson told the Herald this evening.
Blatter would likely have received a cool reception had he made the trip, after New Zealand Football voted against him in last month's presidential election.
NZ Football chief executive Andy Martin said earlier this month that he hoped Blatter stayed away as his presence would turn the tournament final into a "sideshow".
Blatter, who has been in charge of Fifa since 1998, has announced he will quit after the organisation was engulfed by a series of widespread corruption allegations.
