FIFA President Sepp Blatter: “Mistake” To Award 2022 World Cup To Qatar

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said that awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a “mistake”.

When asked by Swiss broadcaster RTS if selecting Qatar was an error, Blatter said: “Of course, it was a mistake.” He added: “You know, one makes a lot of mistakes in life.

“The technical report into Qatar said clearly it was too hot but the executive committee – with a large majority – decided all the same to play it in Qatar.”

However, he denied persisting allegations that Qatar had bought the World Cup. “I will never say that they bought it, because it was political pushing,” he said.

Following his comments FIFA quickly issued a statement to clarify that Blatter had not questioned Qatar’s capability to host the event.

“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,” it said.

“At no stage did he question Qatar as the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”

Read more: http://gulfbusiness.com/2014/05/fifa-president-sepp-blatter-mistake-award-2022-world-cup-qatar