YOU COULD call them Dumb and Dumber, except in the film Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels were merely stupid, not chauvinistic to boot. Another movie title, adapted slightly, might be more appropriate for Sepp Blatter and Lennart Johansson: Pervy Old Men. Last year Blatter, Fifa president and the man who once said “the future of football is female”, tried to set the women’s game back 30 years by suggesting that players wear “ tighter shorts” to attract better crowds.

On Friday Johansson, the Uefa president, attempted to distance himself from Blatter, but merely succeeded in trumping him in creepiness. In a radio interview about the need for women’s football to increase sponsorship, the 75-year-old Swede offered this rambling piece of advice: “There are so many companies who could make use of the fact that if you see a girl playing on the ground when they are sweaty . . . and the rainy weather . . . coming out of a dressing room lovely looking. That would sell, I think.”

You could almost hear the droplets spatter the microphone as he seemed to slaver.

Johansson’s gaffe was made all the more unfortunate by the fact that elsewhere in the interview he made some enlightened observations about the success of Euro 2005 and how women’s football can take itself forward after the tournament ends today. He could also point to a previously staunch record when it comes to supporting women’s football.

Charitably, players such as England’s Rachel Yankey were willing to accept that Johansson’s intentions were good, even if his choice of words was not. “I can understand a little bit where he’s coming from,” she said. “David Beckham does lots of adverts which have nothing to do with football and, yes, sex sells and women’s football needs to be marketed in a different way. But we’re good at football. That ’s what we want to be seen as, not a lot of women rolling about on the ground getting sweaty. He is not totally wrong. He just said it a bit wrong.”

The FA moved quickly to take the sting out of the row. It acknowledged the point Johansson seemed to be trying to make and preferred to think of him as clumsy rather than clueless.

Soho Square is keen that nothing should detract from the achievements of Euro 2005. Though England went out at the group stage, crowds for last week’s semi-finals were healthy and more than 18,000 tickets have been sold for today’s final at Ewood Park between Germany and Norway, taking attendances for the tournament past the 100,000 mark.

In recognition of the impression they have made on the country, Hope Powell’s England squad will be given a reception at the House of Commons on Tuesday. The FA will also launch a drive to encourage more women to take up the sport. With 131,378 registered players, England already boasts the second-best participation numbers in Europe, but with Germany leading the way with 847,220 players, there is clearly work to be done. The FA’s campaign, which will include distributing postcards featuring different England players to 7m children around the country, is entitled A More Beautiful Game — but the FA is keen to stress that its promotion “is of the players as athletes, while acknowledging their marketability as females”.

Blatter and Johansson would no doubt approve of Solveig Gulbrandsen. The Norway midfielder has been the player of the tournament and after scoring the first of two outstanding goals in the semi-final win over Sweden, she was booked for pulling her shirt up over her head. After losing 1-0 to Germany in the opening match, Norway have been gaining momentum and their fluent counter-attacking has been fine to watch.

Other pivotal players in a young side are Ane Stangeland, their 25-year-old captain, who passes the ball beautifully out from the back, and Isabell Herlovsen, a 16-year-old striking sensation.

Although the Germans are world No 1 and Europe’s most successful country, the Norwegians are the only nation to have won each of women’s football’s Big Three, World Cup, Olympics and European Championship. “We’re looking forward to playing Germany. It’ll be a great match. I think we have a score to settle after losing to them (in the first game) and I think we could be the one team who can beat them this year,” Gulbrandsen said.

The Germans, though, remain formidable. They crushed Finland in their semi-final and two of their players are tied with Gulbrandsen as the tournament’s top scorers, Inka Grings and Conny Pohlers. Perhaps they could be sent to have a word with Johansson and Blatter. They are both soldiers by profession.

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