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What's the Story?
In a tweet sent out on 29th July, Sepp Blatter claimed that Qatar had used unceremonious means to secure their rights to host the FIFA World Cup. In the tweet Blatter claims that former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy had political influence on FIFA Vice President Michel Platini.
Although his tweet seems to be for publicity of his new book, there might be a larger story hidden among the lines.
In Case You Didn't Know...
Sepp Blatter was fired as FIFA President over corruption claims in December 2015. He and several others, including Platini was banned from any FIFA related activities for 8 years, later reduced to 6, on Money Laundering and Bribery charges. He was charged with Criminal Mismanagement and Misappropriation.
Blatter had been FIFA President for 17 years and had a controversy-free reign till the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. The British press criticized Blatter when England lost to Russia in the bid for the World Cup in a conspicuous manner. But he and FIFA was universally criticized for awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.
Blatter had been in further controversy in other fields when he joked about homosexuality being illegal in Qatar and footballer Hope Solo accusing him of sexual misconduct, although the accusation was never proved.
Heart of the Matter
With the 2018 Russia World Cup behind us, the Qatar World cup has drawn more heat from the fans and officials alike. More recently, the World Cup was moved from its usual Summertime to Winter. For the first time, the World Cup will be held in November and December instead of its usual June-July schedule.
The newspaper, The Sunday Times, a London based subsidiary of The Times UK heavily criticised Blatter's actions and the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar in a piece attacking the governing body's decision.
Their claim was that members of the FIFA Executive Committee ignored the advice of FIFA's inspection committee who clearly stated that Qatar was incapable of hosting an event in the magnitude of the FIFA World Cup.
What's Next?
Sepp Blatter seemingly is unable to stay out of the spotlight. Whether this was just a cheap attempt at selling his new book or a true story, that is yet to be revealed but as of now the Qatar World Cup is happening. Nothing is stopping that.
FIFA has seemingly learned from their mistake as they awarded the 2026 World Cup to USA, Canada and Mexico instead of Morocco.
