With the world getting closer and closer and as the participating teams finalize the details and already present their final lists for the most important football competition in the world, Joseph Blatter surprised with an unusual confession that already has repercussions. Is that in a note he made with the Tamedia communications group, the Swiss acknowledged that the choice of Qatar as the seat “was a mistake”.
What is striking about his statements is not just this Blatter was the president of FIFA when the elections were held and he was one of the great promotersbut also, he was himself in charge of announcing, who recalled on December 2, 2010 in Zurich, that Qatar would be the organizer of the 2022 World Cup.
However, less than two weeks into the game, he seems to have lost his enthusiasm. “Football and the World Cup are too big for that (…) At the time I was responsible as president of FIFA.” Blatter was responsible for the highest entity in football between 1998 and 2015. He was then suspended for the famous FIFA Gate.
Additionally, unusually, he also acknowledged that the competition was supposed to take place in the United States, which was initially the big candidate to stay with the venue after the 2018 World Cup in Russia: “It would have been a gesture of peace if the two political opponents had organized the World Cup one after the other”.
It is not the first time that Blatter speaks of his “regret” for the appointment of Qatar. In an interview with Le Monde in November 2021, one year after the event that will start on November 20 and last until December 18, the former FIFA president had already expressed his resignation regarding the elections: “We can’t change history”.
Criticism of the elections in Qatar
Qatar’s choice has been heavily criticized since the day the venue was designated. From corruption scandals within FIFA to the intervention of various NGOs that have called for a boycott for violating fundamental human rights.
The release of Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp from Germany said at a press conference that “we are all accomplices” in not denouncing the organization of the Qatar 2022 World Cup for violating human rights laws in the construction of stadiums.
“You can’t work outdoors in temperatures of 50 degrees,” said the coach of the England team, answering a reporter’s question as to why the players didn’t rebel against the organization.
“Why do the players have to make a statement? The players are preparing for a competition, they are not the organizers. They will try to do their best for their national team. The journalists should give this message, we should all do it.” Klopp said complained.
Source: Clarin
