Jeb from Washington, you are right. Ronaldo knew what he was signing, especially during his best season ever. He knew the franzie the market would be created if he was a free agent. But he choose to sign a 5 year deal, so he should honor that.

Naleen Lal, Northern California,

British clubs regularly blast European clubs in competition.so Blatter and Platini, being good Europeans, want to weaken British clubs by encouraging top players to go abroad.

Bicknoller, Bicknoller,

I hope everyone recognizes this for what it is. While Manchester United may be the most immediate victim of this comment, a move to greater player freedom would only strengthen the position of Europe's strongest clubs. The South American clubs would probably be the greatest victims.

Mike, Houston, USA

Will in grimsby, it doesnt matter who is in charge of FIFA, they are usually inept or corrupt. You should read up about Sir Stanley Rous and Joao Havalange who came before Blatter, or Jack Warner (FIFA Vice-President)...all of them failed the game in there own special way. Nothing will ever change.

Gavin Hall, London, UK

I think it is time tere is a change of guard at FIFA. Mr Blatter has shown he is out touch with the rules or the modern game of football. At no point has Ronald been a "slave", he signed a contract and as such should have thought of his move to Madrid before signing an improved contract. Slavery?

Ebenezer, New York, USA

Slave my foot! Slaves were not paid 120,000 quid a week and they were not treated like royalty.

The FIFA President should know better than encourage a serious precedent in football. Contracts are made to be respected by both club and players.

John, Malta, Malta

The ironic thing is that United evidently took the matter to FIFA !
It was obvious, well certainly to me it was, that was an idiotic thing to do. Blatter/FIFA are always going to back a mainland european club. Platini's comments re English football during Euro 08 underscored their bias.

Peter, Conwy,

i think that the blame lies with ronaldo for this issue not man utd, after all man utd took him when he was 177 and turned him into the champion he is today then as soon as real madrid declare interest he states his "desire"/greed nd says he wants to move there

matthew, bangor, whales

tbh as much as i dont want ronaldo to leave its his descision , and if u think about it he would want a new challenge after all he has won every major trophy available in england , but i dont agree with the fact that he thinks real madrid is a better club than man unied when there not ,.x

Josh, Bury,

I'm an American ManU fan and I love Ronaldo. The idea of him leaving the club after the amazing year he had is rather strange. As a Black American, the Slavery comment in this context is laughable. The fact of the matter is he signed a contract that should be honored. RM can sign him in 2 years.

Dexter Davenport, New York, United States

well,i can say that i cant bellive that ronaldo wants to go from Manchester united.. I think that what he want to do it's not fair.. First of all,he had a briliant year and season in man utd.. Thay wan premier league, and champions league,and now after all that victory,he wants to leave..

amera, Sarajevo, bosnia and herzegovina

Ronaldo wants to leave for a bigger club and is being held against his will. You can't blame the lad for wanting to move on to bigger and better things, he's carried Manchester United on his shoulders for almost 2 years now.

MUFC should release the shackles and let this man free.

Duncan, Redhill, UK

This guy is embarassing and clueless. His anti - EPL, pro anyone else comments are verging on xenophobia.

He could have taken a stand against Madrid, or spoken about Barcelona breaching rules over Hleb, or the new scandal in Italy. But no, he encourages Ronaldo to breach his contract. Fantastic.

Tim, Notts,

@ Peter French:

'Homosexuality' is not exclusively a male thing. It applies equally to women as well ("Homo" meaning "same"). Blatter's comment is therefore grammatically correct. Whether or not it is true is another matter.

John Tee-Rhodes, Manchester,

when will the home nations put up a candidate in the fifa elections who can oust blatter from his office.

maybe its time we accuse him of owning WMDs so we can have a regime change

will, grimsby, uk

Blatter is out of his mind. If a player wants to leave and knows he wants to play elsewhere, then don't sign a 5-year contract. If you decide to sign that long of a contract, then be prepared to honor it. These contracts are beginning to be less valuable than the paper on which they're written.

Jeb, Washington, DC,

I agree with him that players should be able to play where they want. It doesn't matter how much they get paid.
That being said, if they have signed a contract with the specific team, or agreed to go there willingly, they should honour it.

Tim, Toronto,

Ronaldo playing at Old Trafford became a millionaire and European Champion not a slave as Mr Blatter have been quoted. What and why was the reason that he spoke on this transfer only when and the moment there are more than 300 players in Europe linked to be transfered from their club to another?

twanny bugeja, santa venera, malta

Thinking outside the box is significantly different than this ranting. Comparing any footballer to a slave is rediculous; they sign a contract and maintaining that contract is the player's responsibility. In American sports owners would laugh at a player if he wanted to break contract like Ronaldo.

Sara, LA, USA

As an Arsenal fan I'd like to see Ronaldo leave United, as that would make life easier for us....but I think Blatter's a complete fool for making these comments - they undermine the stability of all football teams. Player contracts don't seem to be worth the paper they're written on nowadays.

Ben, London,

I'm sorry but this guy has been an embarrasment. He has NO business telling players where to go. They are under CONTRACT. Or did he not know this? I have nothing but seething venom boiling in my veins when this man opens his mouth. How much is Calderon paying Blatter? That's what I'd like to know.

Colin Bowley, London, UK

I doubt Blatman would be arguing for Ronaldo to ditch Real Madrid for Man Utd. Couldn't agree more with Gavin, I'm actually angered by the words used by this silly old fool. The best place for Ronaldo is in a glass box in Blatter's retirement home doing endless keepie-ups.

Phil, London,

"United should not hold Ronaldo against his will"...yeah, like Sir Alex has a gun on the boy's head. Blatter need not tell United about morality when Madrid have been making unofficial offers(we can pay 100 million) and then saying 80 million is too much.

Ishan, Dundee,

Excuse me. "Homosexuality is more popular there" sic in womans football. It must therefore by definition be non existant.
The mans a nutter. MBK of London comment "how did this guy get the job" is a question we ask about many an appointment.
You get it by the old boy network ,old chap.

peter french, Orihuela costa, spain

Slavery...it disgusts me he can mention that word when talking about a player who earns more in a week than the average person in britain earns in 4 years! Was Ronaldo forced into signing his last contract?? poor boy, i feel so very sorry for him.

Gavin, London, UK

How did this guy win an election to be president of FIFA? There must be at least one person more level headed in world football.

mbk, London, UK

How does he know about gay footballers "who don't declare it"?

Tom, Perth, Oz

An adminstrator who speaks his mind and thinks outside the box - God forbid. And football is doing so badly on his watch, isn't it?

Mark, London, UK