Ex-FIFA president Blatter: Awarding World Cup to Qatar 'a mistake'

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter admitted to Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger that awarding 2022 World Cup hosting duties to Qatar was "a mistake."

Blatter's 17-year reign as FIFA chief ended in 2015 and remains blighted by accusations of corruption. A Swiss court cleared Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini of a suspected fraudulent payment in July, but prosecutors have appealed the ruling.

U.S. prosecutors alleged in 2020 that bribes were involved in the voting for hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup. In the years since Qatar's victory, 16 of the 22 executive members present for the vote have been implicated in, or been investigated for, corruption or other bad practices, according to The Guardian's Barney Ronay.

"It is too small of a country. Football and the World Cup are too big for it," Blatter told Edgar Schuler and Thomas Knellwolf of Tages Anzeiger in an interview published Monday evening, as translated by BBC Sport.

"Since then," Blatter added, "social considerations and human rights are taken into account."

The logistical difficulties in staging the tournament in such a small country - Qatar is smaller than Connecticut - have since been outweighed by human rights issues in the Gulf state. Amnesty International understands thousands of migrant workers have died while building infrastructure for the World Cup, and Human Rights Watch recently documented incidents of members of the LGBTQ community being "arbitrarily" detained and then beaten by Qatari security forces.

Current FIFA president Gianni Infantino has recently come under fire for his defense of Qatar. He suggested in October that the nation was a victim of "prejudice" while it faces criticism over its human rights record and then urged the 32 teams competing at the World Cup to "focus on the football" and avoid political and ideological battles in Qatar.

Amnesty's head of economic and social justice Steve Cockburn said in response: "If Gianni Infantino wants the world to 'focus on the football' there is a simple solution: FIFA could finally start tackling the serious human rights issues rather than brushing them under the carpet."