Sepp Blatter says Qatar World Cup decision to host 2022 was a mistake . Blatter says he voted for the United States to host the tournament .
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says the decision to give Qatar the 2022 World Cup finals was a mistake.Qatar is due to host the tournament ahead of the United States, according to FIFA's executive committee in 2010.In an interview with AFP's German sports subsidiary SID, Blatter claims it was a mistake and that he voted for the United States to host the 2022 tournament, blaming then-UEFA president Michel Platini for swinging the vote in Qatar at the request of then-French president Nicolas Sarkozy.Platini said that while he had lunch at the Elysee Palace with Sarkozy and then-Qatari crown prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani right before the election, the president (Sarkozy) never requested that I vote for one country or another, but that he supported Qatar.The Qatar World Cup is the first tournament held in the Middle East and the first in the Northern Hemisphere winter.
The decision to award the tournament to Qatar was surrounded by accusations of corruption.Blatter said that as the voting process progressed, he noticed that other forces were at work.Platter was suspended from football for eight years, later reduced to six, after FIFA learned of his conduct.In July, Blatters ban was extended to 2028 for violations of FIFAs code of ethics.At a hearing in Switzerland, Battisti and Platini were found not guilty of deception.