Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter said in an interview with the Swiss daily Tages Anzeiger that "Qatar was a mistake" and "the choice was wrong" when Qatar won the 2022 FIFA World Cup bid in 2010.
Qatar's decision has been controversial since its announcement, including allegations of corruption and human rights violations. Blatter, who served as FIFA president for 17 years, was also charged with corruption during his tenure. Last June, a Swiss court ruled that he was not charged with fraud. The prosecution appealed against this decision.
"It's a small country." “Football and the World Cup are too big for that,” Blatter commented of Qatar, the first country in the Middle East to host the tournament.
He said FIFA changed the criteria used to select the host country in 2012 amid concerns about working conditions at tournament-related construction sites in Qatar.
Since then, social and human rights factors have been taken into consideration,” he said. Blatter said he will watch the event start in two weeks from his home in Zurich.
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