FIFA chief Sepp Blatter Monday apologized to Italy for not presenting them the 2006 World Cup trophy.

Speaking at an Azzurri reunion celebration, Blatter admitted he had been wrong not to come down from the stands and hand over the trophy after Italy's victory over France, according to the local media reports.

"History will say that it was a mistake...and it was in fact a mistake," Blatter said, in his first explicit public apology.

Blatter reiterated his claim that a decision was made before the match not to expose FIFA's top dignitary to the possibility of jeers from the predominantly German crowd.

Blatter's no-show has been an issue since the World Cup, and there have been conflicting reports about whether he was on the presentation roster or not.

Many commentators took his decision as a sign he did not think they were worthy winners - or possibly as confirmation of FIFA's distaste for Italy's Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.