Qatar World Cup Was a Mistake, Sepp Blatter

Sepp Blatter, a former head of Fifa, said that awarding Qatar the right to host the 2022 World Cup was a "mistake."

Blatter, 86, presided over the body that controls world football when Qatar was chosen to host the competition in 2010.

The Gulf state has been under fire for its stance on same-sex relationships, human rights record, and handling of migrant labor.

Blatter asserted that he was "right" at the time when he said the tournament "should not go" to Qatar in 2022.

Blatter claimed that Qatar is "too little of a country" to host the World Cup and that "football and the World Cup are too enormous for it" in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger.

From November 20 through December 18, the World Cup in Qatar is taking place. It is the first time in the competition's 92-year existence that it has taken place in the Middle East and during the Northern Hemisphere's winter.

The Fifa executive committee voted 14-8 to award Qatar the right to host the competition in place of the United States 12 years previously, and Russia was selected to host the event in 2018.

Blatter claims he supported the US and accuses Michel Platini, who was president of UEFA at the time, of swaying the decision in Qatar's favor.

“It was a bad choice and I was responsible for that as president at the time,” he said.

“Thanks to the four votes of Platini and his [Uefa] team, the World Cup went to Qatar rather than the United States. It’s the truth.”