TIME AFTER TIME

Ex-FIFA President Sepp Blatter Claims Organization Won’t Give Back Luxury Watches Left in His Old Office

“I’ve reached the end of my temper,” the former president said in an interview, calling it a matter of “respect.”

The former president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, is reportedly in a battle with his former employer after he left numerous luxury watches in his office and has been unable to retrieve them. Blatter told The New York Times that up to 80 of his timepieces—from brands like Patek Philippe, IWC and Omega with values between $5,000 to $20,000—were left in his office when he was ousted from the organization in a “sweeping corruption scandal” in 2015. He claims he had no time to gather his personal belongings, leaving them trapped up there. “This is a question of respect, and I’ve reached the end of my temper,” Blatter told the Times. “I think it’s not too much to ask to give me back personal belongings.” He was reunited with 120 of his watches last year after jostling with the organization's legal department, but Blatter claims some “high technology” timepieces were not given back to him. FIFA’s deputy secretary general Alasdair Bell told the newspaper the ex-president was given all the watches he had requested and even signed a receipt, before coming back months later claiming some of his collection was missing. While Blatter is also asking for pension payments from FIFA, he wants his watches back first.