Awarding the FIFA World Cup to Qatar 12 years ago was a mistake, then FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday, recalling again that the meeting between Nicolas Sarkozy and Michel Platini could have influenced the outcome of the vote.
Blatter, who is 86, made the comments to Swiss media conglomerate Tamedia in his first high-profile interview since being cleared with Platini in July of financial misconduct charges at FIFA in following a criminal trial in federal court.
“This country is too small,” Blatter said of Qatar, the smallest in size since the World Cup was hosted in Switzerland in 1954. “Soccer and the World Cup are too big for its size. »
The 32 teams will play 64 matches in eight stadiums built in Doha and its surroundings. The Qatari city has also been transformed since 2010 due to the many pharaonic projects started for the World Cup.
The matches will be shown from November 20, and around 1.2 million spectators from abroad are expected to visit Qatar during the World Cup. Due to the limited accommodation offer in Qatar, many of them will have to make daily round trips from neighboring countries.
“It was a bad decision. And I am responsible for it since I was president at the time,” said Blatter, who had previously said he voted for the United States. The American candidacy was beaten by that of Qatar in the last round of voting bringing together five candidate countries for the 2022 tournament.
The tipping point that derailed the United States’ bid came when Sarkozy arranged a meeting in Paris during the week leading up to the December 2, 2010 FIFA executive committee ballot.
Platini, then the president of UEFA and vice-president of FIFA, was invited by Sarkozy, then president of France, to his official residence. The Crown Prince of Qatar, now the Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was also present.
Blatter on Tuesday repeated his allegations about Sarkozy trying to influence Platini, and again gave his version of the phone call Platini allegedly made to him after the meeting in Paris to tell him that the voting process for the he awarding of the World Cup had changed.
“Thanks to the four votes of Platini and his (UEFA) team, the World Cup was awarded to Qatar rather than the United States. It’s the truth,” Blatter said of the poll that ended 14-8 in favor of the Middle Eastern country.
In an interview with the Associated Press (AP) in 2015, Platini confirmed the importance of the meeting in Paris in the outcome of the ballot.
“Sarkozy never asked me to vote for Qatar, but I knew it would be better,” Platini told the AP in Zurich seven years ago. He also admitted that he “could have” told US leaders he was going to vote for their 2022 candidacy.
Blatter, however, did not allude to criticism of forced labor and human rights abuses in Qatar since 2010.
He wondered, however, why his successor as FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, moved to Qatar at least a year ago.
Blatter has heard of numerous requests from humanitarian groups and some FIFA member federations — including England and the United States — for the creation of a compensation fund for the families of workers who have been injured. or who died during preparations for the World Cup. The Qatari government has always denied the existence of the problem, and added that it was “a publicity stunt”.
“What can FIFA do if its president is in the same boat as Qatar? questioned Blatter about Infantino, who chose to live in Qatar.
FIFA has yet to respond to requests for comment on Blatter’s interview.