Sepp Blatter has mocked the speech his successor Gianni Infantino delivered to members of the FIFA Council in Zurich on Thursday. The Swiss ran world football's governing body before him.
Infantino used the speech to apologise, with criticism raining down on him since news broke of his plan to open the World Cup up to private sector investors.
"I would like to say that we apologise for the mistakes made in managing this project and in communicating about it, which has had many consequences," the current FIFA president said, before promising a financial package worth 25 million dollars for every national association.
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Figures across the game tore into the speech. Even inside the FIFA Council, Infantino failed to win unanimous backing.
Blatter, FIFA president between 1998 and 2015, took to "X" to twist the knife: "Gianni Infantino, the greatest! An astonishing performance in Zurich: Infantino, who appears to be a good Catholic, confesses his sins and then promises 25 million. Confession, forgiveness and absolution, all in a single appearance! The Pope must be delighted."
He signed off with a line that cut deeper: "But in football, as in the Church, credibility cannot be bought."