Ex-FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s Change Of Heart Over Qatar 2022

Twelve years since he opened the envelope that handed Qatar the 2022 World Cup ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter has had a change of heart.

In the aftermath of awarding the competition to the Middle East nation, the Swiss businessman had been bullish.

“I think there is too much concern for a competition that will be done only in 12 years,” he said at the time, “you see in the Middle East the opening of this culture, it’s another culture because it’s another religion, but in [soccer] we have no boundaries. We open everything to everybody and I think there shall not be any discrimination against any human beings be it on this side or that side, be it left, right or whatever.”

So relaxed was the then-boss of soccer’s governing body about the choice he even made comments that seemed to make light of the illegality of homosexuality in Qatar, “I would say they should refrain from any sexual activities,” he’d quipped.

But on the eve of the tournament, Blatter has taken a different view.

“For me, it is clear: Qatar is a mistake. It was a bad choice. And I was responsible for it as president at the time,” he said, “It’s too small a country. [Soccer] and the World Cup is too big for that.”

Not that the former president was taking total ownership of the award. Lifting the lid on some of the 2010 deliberations he claimed the plan wasn’t to hand the tournament to Qatar.

“At the time, we actually agreed in the executive committee that Russia should get the 2018 World Cup and the USA that of 2022,” he explained, “it would have been a gesture of peace if the two longstanding political opponents had hosted the World Cup one after the other.”

The problem, Blatter claims, is that the European voters had decided the Qatari bid should win.

“Thanks to the four votes of Platini and his [UEFAEFA
] team, the World Cup went to Qatar rather than the United States. It’s the truth,” Blatter said, detailing the internal machinations behind the 14-8 voting result in favor of the Middle Eastern county.

The ex-FIFA boss wasn’t done there, he then focused his ire on the current head of the organization, Gianni Infantino. “I’m wondering: why is the new FIFA president living in Qatar?” He continued.

“He can’t be the head of the local World Cup organization. That’s not his job. There are two organizing committees for this – a local one and one from FIFA.

“The FIFA president should have the ultimate supervision. An example: there is a proposal to set up a fund for the deceased workers and the bereaved. Qatar says no. What should FIFA say if their President is in the same boat as Qatar?”

Finally, in a separate but equally controversial statement, Blatter revealed he would ban Iran from competing in this year’s competition during a talk at the Swiss broadcast Blick.

“If you were still FIFA president today would you let Iran – which is currently killing young women in the streets, which is sending weapons to Russia to attack Ukraine – play in the World Cup?” A reporter asked to which the ex-FIFA boss replied “no.”

FIFA looks to one-up its old boss

Unshackled by the responsibility of the presidency and having been acquitted of a fraud charge in the summer, Blatter is in a considerably better position to make these bold statements.

A character never afraid of a colorful comment or controversy, the FIFA World Cup bandwagon kept on rolling under his stewardship no matter how challenging the terrain appeared.

There were significant concerns in the build-up to World Cups in Brazil and South Africa, but once the action kicked off the problems always seemed to melt into the background.

It appears current president Gianni Infantino is hoping for a repeat. The soccer association boss was singing a similar tune to Blatter back in 2010 when he stood up to address world leaders at the G20 Summit.

“Football is about passion, is about inclusion. Football and the FIFA World Cup can create real standstills of countries, and a World Cup is watched by five billion people – more than half of the world population, all over the world,” he told the conference.

“So, of course, it is of interest to the world leaders. And, of course, we need, as sports organizations, to work together with the world leaders to bring a little bit of joy to the people – and maybe also to build some bridges which otherwise wouldn’t exist.”

So far FIFA has not responded directly to its former boss’s statements, although I have contacted them to see if they’d like to. However, in his G20 address, Infantino appeared to raise the bar when it came to soccer-related political ambition suggesting the World Cup could be a catalyst for peace in Eastern Europe.

“Russia hosted the last World Cup in 2018, and Ukraine is bidding to host the World Cup in 2030,” the FIFA President said, “Maybe, the current World Cup, starting in five days, can really be that positive trigger. So my plea, to all of you, is to think of a temporary ceasefire, for one month, for the duration of the FIFA World Cup, or at least the implementation of humanitarian corridors, or anything that could lead to the resumption of dialogue as a first step to peace. You are the world leaders; you have the ability to influence the course of history.”

Soccer has often been fairly criticized for taking the stance that it could remain apolitical, especially when tournaments like the World Cup offered a global platform for nations to project a certain viewpoint.

But if the sport does decide post-Qatar it wants to dive into the ethical questions it has avoided for so long it needs to be careful. Things are rarely as clear-cut as they seem.