BERLIN, July 7: FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said he often dived trying to win free kicks when he played in the top amateur league in his native Switzerland.

“I was not a perfect player, I have to say, being a striker,” Blatter told CNN. “I tried... to get some advantages by joking with a player and then falling down by saying 'but he touched me.' And in fact it was not that. I did it.”

FIFA, soccer's world governing body, instructed referees before the World Cup to clamp down on diving and gamesmanship by cautioning offenders, with Blatter saying it was important for players to set a positive example as role models.

However, in a programme to be aired on CNN International on Saturday called 'Revealed: Sepp Blatter', the FIFA president said he understood why players dived.

“I think that all players — especially attacking players — they do it because you go into the 18-yard area and then you lose the ball because somebody takes it away,” said Blatter.

“You are frustrated, and then in the frustration you do two things, either you try to get the ball back and then you commit a foul or you say 'but he touched me,' and then you fall down.”—Reuters