Fifa insists it wll not compromise on its offer of £1m compensation to Newcastle for Michael Owen’s World Cup injury.
Newcastle have claimed £6.2m towards Owen’s salary costs after he ruptured cruciate knee ligaments in last summer’s World Cup game against Sweden.
The Football Association is already paying Newcastle £50,000 a week to help cover his Owen’s wages, but Newcastle are also looking for compensation to cover the cost of buying a replacement striker.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter said it was a “last offer”, adding: “If someone has responsiblility then it’s the FA.”
Blatter insisted the overall compensation should be shared between Fifa, the FA and Newcastle’s own insurers.
Newcastle have lodged a claim to cover the cost of signing £10m Obefemi Martins to replace Owen.
The Fifa president said: “Newcastle have come saying that they had have to replace him with another player and that’s not fair.
“The transfer regulations say players put at the disposal of the national team should be insured by their club.
“The competition regulations of the World Cup say the national associations should make sure their players are correctly insured.
“We’ve also set up a special fund for injuries to players for all 32 participants with a total of £7m available for everybody.
“If you look who is asking for money, then something is wrong because it’s from the richest league in the world.”
An FA spokesman said: “The position remains unchanged. We’ve been in constructive discussions with Newcastle since the World Cup.
“We are sympathetic towards their position with reference to the injury and these discussions are ongoing.”
