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Sepp Blatter dismisses talk of World Cup boycott

Sepp Blatter says that a World Cup boycott in 2018 would not be an adequate solution to curb racism in football.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has dismissed the idea of boycotting the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The issue has been raised following the racist abuse CSKA Moscow fans aimed at Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure in their midweek Champions League match at Arena Khimki.

However, the 77-year-old believes that a boycott would be counter-productive in the fight against racism.

"We should never speak about a boycott of the World Cup," he said in a speech to the Oxford Union.

"The World Cup is the biggest event in the world. We should fight against racism but a boycott would not be a weapon against the racists."

Blatter also defended the actions of himself and FIFA in last night's speech.

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Michael Penkman
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Man City's Yaya Toure scores his team's third goal against Wigan during their League Cup match on September 24, 2013
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