FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter met top European politicians recently to discuss the problems faced by sport in the current general context of the European Union.

Blatter was received on Monday in Stockholm by Fredrick Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden and current President of the European Council. Lars-Ake Lagrell, President of the Swedish Football Association, and Lennart Johansson, UEFA Honorary President, were also present.

The topics discussed included the status of sport in Europe after the Irish "yes" vote to the Treaty of Lisbon, the specificity and autonomy of sport - cited in Article 165 of the Treaty of Lisbon - as well as FIFA's 6+5 initiative.

Two days earlier, the FIFA President had discussed 6+5 with Carina Christensen, Danish Minister of Culture, at a meeting in Copenhagen also attended by Allan Hansen, President of the Danish Football Association. At this meeting, Mrs Christensen confirmed Denmark's support for the 6+5 initiative.

Both meetings took place in the context of;
* the Irish voters' endorsement of the Treaty of Lisbon;
* the forthcoming conference on the specificity of sport in Budapest on 20 and 21 of October (which will be attended by representatives of the sports committees of the 27 EU member state national parliaments);
* the important announcement made by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero that Spain would host a European summit on sport in April 2010, during its Presidency of the EU.