Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy pressured the country’s football federation to vote in favor of awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in an interview with a German newspaper on Sunday.
Blatter told Welt am Sonntag that then German president Christian Wulff also tried to influence the December 2010 vote, in which FIFA members selected the hosts for both the 2022 tournament and the 2018 World Cup, which was awarded to Russia, France24 reported.
“Messrs Sarkozy and Wulff tried to influence their voting representatives. That’s why we now have a World Cup in Qatar. Those who decided it should take responsibility for it,” said Blatter, who added he was tired of taking the blame for something he had no control over.
He suggested that the German football federation DFB received a recommendation from Wulff “to vote for Qatar out of economic interests.”
Blatter also refused to accept responsibly for the plight of migrant laborers building stadiums in Qatar under dire conditions amid reports of human rights abuses.
“Look at the German companies … Deutsche Bahn, Hochtief and many more had projects in Qatar even before the World Cup was awarded.”
Blatter announced his intention to leave office on June 2, four days after he was re-elected for a fifth four-year term, as pressure built from the American case and a separate Swiss federal investigation focused on possible money laundering linked to the awarding of the World Cups to Russia and Qatar.
