Transfers: "The market decides (...) We can not intervene" (Joseph Blatter, FIFA)

"One hundred million for Gareth Bale? I doubt a player is worth so much," said Joseph Blatter, President of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), in Zurich (Switzerland), headquarters of the international body, on the 03/09/2013.

"I doubt, I doubt, but I cannot stop this. (...) Is the price high or not it in the end? You say the country (Spain) is a poor country or indebted, but in football you always find money (...) I think this is the market and we cannot intervene in this market," said Blatter.

Michel Platini, President of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) had estimated, on the 30/08/2013 in Monaco, that the transfer market had become a "big unhealthy business"

"I've always been to the end of my contracts. Nowadays, a player is more a product. We, and firstly FIFA, must all think about something healthier," explained Michel Platini, during the European competitions group phase drafts.

"If FIFA does not regulate it, UEFA will", said the President of the European body in an interview with sports daily newspaper L'Équipe on the 28/08/2013.