'Qatar was a mistake': Ex-FIFA President Sepp Blatter makes shocking admission before World Cup
Just two weeks before the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, former FIFA President Sepp Blatter has shockingly admitted that awarding the hosting rights to the Middle Eastern country was a 'mistake'.
FollowIn a shocking admission just two weeks ahead of the Qatar World Cup 2022, former FIFA President Sepp Blatter stated that the decision to award the showpiece event's hosting rights to the Middle Eastern country was a 'mistake'.
In 2010, Blatter presided over FIFA at a contentious executive committee decision that gave Russia and Qatar, respectively, the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
The event had to be shifted to November and December owing to the heat, and Qatar has come under fire for handling migrant workers and discriminatory LGBT+ laws.
The decision by FIFA to hold the World Cup in Qatar has also been seen with scepticism because numerous executive committee members who voted in 2010 have since been found guilty or charged with crimes or ethical offences.
Despite being acquitted of fraud allegations in July after paying Michel Platini 1.7 million pounds, Blatter insists he did not vote for Qatar and remains banned from football because of the incident.
The 86-year-old, who was in charge of FIFA from 1998 until 2015 before being banned for six years over a corruption scandal, gave his first interview since being cleared of the charges in July.
Blatter admitted it was a mistake to give Qatar the honour of hosting due to its size and claimed that the USA were FIFA's preferred to stage the 2022 edition before they were given the 2026 format.
"The choice of Qatar was a mistake," Blatter told the Swiss outlet Tages-Anzeiger. "At the time, we actually agreed in the executive committee that Russia should get the 2018 World Cup and the USA that of 2022. It would have been a gesture of peace if the two long-standing political opponents had hosted the World Cup one after the other," he added.
"It's too small a country. Football and the World Cup are too big for that," Blatter remarked.
Asked if he felt responsible for the decision, Blatter replied: "For me it is clear: Qatar is a mistake. The choice was bad. What I'm wondering: why is the new FIFA president [Gianni Infantino] living in Qatar? He can't be the head of the local World Cup organisation. That's not his job. There are two organising committees for this – a local one and one from FIFA."
"I can only repeat: the award to Qatar was a mistake, and I was responsible for that as president at the time," he said. "Now that the World Cup is imminent, I'm glad that, with a few exceptions, no footballers are boycotting the World Cup," Blatter added.
Blatter asserted that despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he does not regret awarding the World Cup to that nation. Blatter denied the claim that Russia had used the World Cup as a "propaganda platform" and stated that he is no longer in communication with Vladimir Putin, who has supported the conflict in Ukraine.
"Many others also use sport for political purposes. I'm not a judge and I don't want to judge that," the former FIFA boss concluded.
