“QATAR WAS A BIG MISTAKE” EX FIFA PRES SEPP BLATTER

According to former Fifa president Sepp Blatter, awarding the World Cup to Qatar was a "mistake" and a "bad choice." He has repeatedly claimed that the decision was the consequence of hidden political pressure.

Qatar's population stands at roughly 2.9 million, including an influx of around 370,000 new residents who moved to the Gulf nation in past year in the lead-up to the World Cup. Qatar did not have the infrastructure in place to run the event and recruited migrant workers from foreign countries to build the necessary stadiums, hotels and roadways.

Blatter claims the event was given to the Gulf state due to the activities of previous Uefa president Michel Platini, who was under pressure from France's then-president Nicolas Sarkozy. "It seems obvious to me that Qatar is a mistake." "I made a stupid decision," Blatter told the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.

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

When asked why Qatar was a horrible option, Blatter answered, "It's too tiny a nation." He made no mention of the human rights issues that have lingered over the event. Football and the World Cup are just too important for that."

Migrant labour is at the heart of human rights concerns surrounding the World Cup. Amnesty International has compared the working and residential circumstances offered to migrant workers in Qatar to forced labour. The working conditions have been blamed for worker injuries and deaths, while the death toll is debatable.