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Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter has called upon the governing body to ban Iran from the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Unrest has engulfed the Islamic Republic since the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. She was in the custody of the morality police at the time of her passing.
It has been alleged that she was taken into custody for condemning the strict dress code Iran imposes on women. Iran, however, has accused foreign enemies of fueling country-wide protests.
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Speaking to the Swiss newspaper Blick, former FIFA president Blatter condemned Iran for its actions, stating that they should be banned from the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He said (via ESPN):
“Iran should be excluded from the World Cup.”
Blick further added that Blatter was baffled by current FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s lack of reaction to the whole episode. Blatter, demanding harsh consequences for the Islamic Republic, claimed that he would have banned Iran had he still been in charge of FIFA.
Iran are placed in Group B alongside England, Wales, and the United States. They kick off their FIFA World Cup campaign with a clash against the Three Lions on November 21.
Sepp Blatter claims that giving FIFA World Cup hosting rights to Qatar was a “mistake”
In an explosive interview with the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, Blatter claimed that it was wrong for Qatar to get the World Cup hosting rights. He alleged that the Gulf nation only won it because of former UEFA president Michel Platini, who was being pressured by then-France president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Blatter said (via The Guardian):
“For me it is clear: Qatar is a mistake. The choice was bad. 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.”
Explaining how the 14-8 (Qatar-US) voting result came to be, Blatter 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.”
On Platini's influence, he added:
“Platini told me he had been invited to the Élysée Palace, where French president Sarkozy had just had lunch with the Crown Prince of Qatar. Sarkozy said to Platini: ‘See what you and your colleagues from Uefa can do for Qatar when the World Cup is awarded.’”
