Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Qatar was too small a country to host the World Cup and it was a mistake to hand the Arab nation the hosting rights.
Blatter was president of the world soccer governing body when the decision to award the world cup was taken, it was one of the reasons he fell out of power.
But in an interview with Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger Blatter said: “It is too small of a country. Football and the World Cup are too big for it.
“Since then, social considerations and human rights are taken into account,” he added.
Blatter said FIFA had adjusted the criteria used to select host countries in 2012 after concerns were raised about the treatment of migrant workers building World Cup stadiums in Qatar.
Blatter spent 17 years as FIFA president but was forced to step down in 2015 over allegations he unlawfully arranged a transfer of two million Swiss francs ($2.19m; £1.6m) to former UEFA president Michel Platini, who was also forced to resign from his position at FIFA.
He was originally banned from football by FIFA for eight years, later reduced to six, over the Platini payment. In March 2021 he then received an additional ban until 2028 for “various violations” of FIFA’s code of ethics.
Blatter and Platini were charged with fraud last November but were found not guilty at a trial in Switzerland in July.
The decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively has been dogged by accusations of widespread corruption, with two investigations launched by Swiss prosecutors and the US Department of Justice in 2015.
Qatar and Russia have always denied any wrongdoing, and both were effectively cleared by FIFA’s own investigation in 2017. BBC
