Awarding 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a Mistake says Blatter

May 16, 2014

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has admitted that awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was ‘a mistake.’

Speaking to Swiss channel RTS, Blatter made the declaration when considering the extreme heat the players have to endure. He said: “Of course, it was a mistake. You know, one makes a lot of mistakes in life.”

“The technical report indicated clearly that it was too hot in summer, but despite that the executive committee decided with quite a big majority that the tournament would be in Qatar.”

Blatter also insisted that Qatar never bought the World Cup, adding that it was due to political considerations.

He added: “No, I have never said it was bought, but that it was due to political considerations. We know full well that big French and German companies work in Qatar but they don’t just work for the World Cup. The World Cup is only a small part of what is going on in Qatar.”

Following Blatter’s comments FIFA released a statement to clarify his views: “The comment by the Fifa president concerning the organisation of the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar to Swiss TV station RTS is in line with previous comments on this matter,” it read.

“As explained in his answer to the journalist, the president reiterated that the decision to organise the World Cup in summer was an ‘error’ based on the technical assessment report of the bid, which had highlighted the extremely hot temperatures in summer in Qatar. At no stage did he question Qatar as hosts of the 2022 Fifa World Cup.”

A decision on whether the tournament will be moved from summer to the winter in eight years’ time has been postponed by Fifa until after next month’s World Cup finals in Brazil.

This comes a few days after Blatter indicated he would stand for a fifth term in next year’s election.

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