Relations between FA and Blatter begin to thaw

BURTON-ON-TRENT, England (AP) -More than a year after the leaders of English football tried to block his re-election, FIFA President Sepp Blatter signaled an end to the tensions between the two sides at the England team's new training base.

Blatter, who was booed during his last visit during the London Olympics, visited St. George's Park on Wednesday.

Relations between FIFA and England were strained last year when the Football Association tried to block Blatter's re-election amid corruption scandals, while the FIFA president hit out at English "arrogance'' after their failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Blatter says "what we witness today is not only a co-operation at the footballing level. It is on friendship ... don't go back to the past. Now we are living a wonderful day. It's the present.''