Sepp Blatter: awarding 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a mistake
• Fifa President has concerns over extreme heat in Gulf state
• 'Technical report indicated clearly that it was too hot in summer'
Sepp Blatter has admitted it was "a mistake" to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar because of the extreme heat players will face in the Gulf state.
Speaking to Swiss channel RTS, the Fifa president said: "Of course, it was a mistake. You know, one makes a lot of mistakes in life.
"The technical report indicated clearly that it was too hot in summer, but despite that the executive committee decided with quite a big majority that the tournament would be in Qatar."
Blatter insisted however that Qatar had not "bought" the World Cup – the bid did spend large amounts of money on sponsorship and development programmes.
He added: "No, I have never said it was bought, but that it was due to political considerations. We know full well that big French and German companies work in Qatar but they don't just work for the World Cup. The World Cup is only a small part of what is going on in Qatar."
Asked about his future at the helm of Fifa, Blatter again indicated he would stand for a fifth term in next year's election. "At the moment I say I want to finish my mandate well. Of course I am willing to continue," he said.
A decision on whether the tournament will be moved from summer to the winter in eight years' time has been postponed by Fifa until after next month's World Cup finals in Brazil.
Fifa later released a statement that attempted to clarify Blatter's comments.
"The comment by the Fifa president concerning the organisation of the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar to Swiss TV station RTS is in line with previous comments on this matter," it read.
"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. At no stage did he question Qatar as hosts of the 2022 Fifa World Cup."
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/16/sepp-blatter-qatar-2022-world-cup-mistake
• Fifa President has concerns over extreme heat in Gulf state
• 'Technical report indicated clearly that it was too hot in summer'
- theguardian.com, Friday 16 May 2014 04.07 EDT
Sepp Blatter has admitted it was "a mistake" to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar because of the extreme heat players will face in the Gulf state.
Speaking to Swiss channel RTS, the Fifa president said: "Of course, it was a mistake. You know, one makes a lot of mistakes in life.
"The technical report indicated clearly that it was too hot in summer, but despite that the executive committee decided with quite a big majority that the tournament would be in Qatar."
Blatter insisted however that Qatar had not "bought" the World Cup – the bid did spend large amounts of money on sponsorship and development programmes.
He added: "No, I have never said it was bought, but that it was due to political considerations. We know full well that big French and German companies work in Qatar but they don't just work for the World Cup. The World Cup is only a small part of what is going on in Qatar."
Asked about his future at the helm of Fifa, Blatter again indicated he would stand for a fifth term in next year's election. "At the moment I say I want to finish my mandate well. Of course I am willing to continue," he said.
A decision on whether the tournament will be moved from summer to the winter in eight years' time has been postponed by Fifa until after next month's World Cup finals in Brazil.
Fifa later released a statement that attempted to clarify Blatter's comments.
"The comment by the Fifa president concerning the organisation of the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar to Swiss TV station RTS is in line with previous comments on this matter," it read.
"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. At no stage did he question Qatar as hosts of the 2022 Fifa World Cup."
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/16/sepp-blatter-qatar-2022-world-cup-mistake
