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Sepp Blatter, the disgraced former president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015 who has been banned from the sport as a result of corruption, has admitted that giving Qatar the 2022 World Cup was a mistake.
The 86-year-old Blatter, who has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result of his corruption, has shockingly admitted that giving the prestigious football tournament to the Middle Eastern nation was the wrong decision.
Corrupt former FIFA President Sepp Blatter has now admitted that giving the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a mistake
Somewhat predictably, though, Blatter’s reasons for regretting giving Qatar the World Cup don’t have anything to do with their alleged human rights abuses and more to do with its literal size.
“The choice of Qatar was a mistake,” Blatter said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, via Sky Sports.
“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.”
The 2022 World Cup will kick off on Sunday, November 20, and will run for about a month before concluding with the final on Sunday, December 18. On Friday, November 25 — the day after Thanksgiving — the United States Men’s National Team, playing in their first World Cup since 2014, is set to face off against England.