Sepp Blatter was FIFA president when Qatar won the right to host the tournament
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the decision to grant Qatar the right to host the World Cup was a “mistake”.
Blatter, 86, was FIFA president when Qatar won the right to host the tournament in 2010.
The Gulf state has been criticized for its stance on homosexual relationships, its primacy over human rights and its treatment of migrant workers.
Qatari World Cup Ambassador Khaled Salman said homosexuality is “damaging to the mind”, which has sparked criticism.
Salman, the former Qatar international, told German broadcaster ZDF that LGBT people participating in the tournament must “accept our rules”.
There is concern about how LGBT people are treated in Qatar.
Blatter told the BBC he was “right” when he said the tournament “shouldn’t go” to Qatar.
Blatter also stated in an interview with the Swiss newspaper “Tages-Anzeiger” that Qatar is “a very small country” to host the tournament and that “football and the World Cup are too big to host them”.
The 2022 World Cup will take place in Qatar, the first Middle East region in the tournament’s 92-year history, from November 20 to December 18.
12 years ago, the Executive Committee of the International Football Association (FIFA) voted 14 to 8 in favor of Qatar hosting the tournament against in favor of the United States and, at the same time, Russia was granted the right to host the tournament. tournament of 2018.
Blatter said he voted for the United States and blamed then-UEFA president Michel Platini for overturning the vote for Qatar.
“It was a bad choice and I was responsible for it as the federation president at the time,” he said.
“Thanks to the four votes from Platini and his team (UEFA), the World Cup went to Qatar instead of the United States. That’s the truth.”
Blatter also said FIFA revised the criteria used to select host countries in 2012 after concerns were raised about the treatment of migrant workers building World Cup stadiums in Qatar.
“Since then, social and human rights considerations have been taken into account,” he added.
Blatter spent 17 years as FIFA president but was forced to resign in 2015 on charges of illegally arranging the transfer of 2 million Swiss francs ($ 2.19 million) to Platini, who was also forced to resign. from his position at FIFA.
Blatter and Platini were charged with fraud last November, but a trial in Switzerland in July found them not guilty.
The decision to grant Russia and Qatar the right to host the World Cup has been the subject of large-scale corruption allegations, with two investigations launched by the Swiss Prosecutor’s Office and the US Department of Justice in 2015.
Qatar and Russia have long denied any allegations and both were effectively acquitted by a special FIFA investigation in 2017.
FIFA recently wrote to competing nations asking them to “focus on football now”.
The FIFA letter was criticized by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and LGBT activists in England and Wales, while 10 European football associations said “human rights are universal and apply everywhere”.
Amnesty International says that since 2010 hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have suffered human rights violations while employed in projects in Qatar.
Peaceful protests are planned by some players, while former England player Harry Kane and nine other European captains will wear badges with the words “One Love”. To promote diversity and inclusion.
The Danish team’s jersey was also designed with an image of protest against Qatar, with Sherko Hommel, the team’s sports kit supplier, saying he “didn’t want to show his logos” at the tournament, which he says ” it cost thousands of lives. “
