LONDON (AP) — Playing the 2022 World Cup in the summer heat of Qatar is “not rational and reasonable,” FIFA President Sepp Blatter said in a newspaper interview.
Despite health concerns included in an official report before the vote, the FIFA executive committee opted for the tiny emirate’s bid in 2010. Blatter repeatedly has refused to say whether he backed Qatar.
Air-conditioned stadiums to beat expected temperatures of up to 122 degrees were a defining theme of Qatar’s bid, but the cooling technology only resolves the problem in venues for players, fans and officials.
Blatter said voters were influenced by the pressure to take the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time.
