DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Good morning. I'm David Greene. Finally, soccer's World Cup begins today in Brazil. But the head of FIFA, the organization running the tournament, has loftier goals. At a speech yesterday, Sepp Blatter said, quote, "we shall wonder if one day our game is played on other planets." Right, an Intergalactic Cup. Recently, Blatter's been grilled by the media over allegations that Qatar won the rights to host a future World Cup through bribery. Maybe Blatter's hoping the Martian Press Corps is more forgiving. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.