Fifa president Sepp Blatter has apologised for not personally presenting the World Cup to Italy after their success in Berlin last year.
Blatter said that “history will say it was an error” that the president of Fifa was not the one to hand over the trophy.
He said he had apologised to Italy’s political and sporting authorities immediately after the final.
Blatter’s absence was widely condemned in Italy as a snub, possibly linked to the match-fixing scandal which had been runmling on in the months preceding the final.
Blatter claimed he had shunned the presentation ceremony because he was afraid of being jeered by spectators.
