KUALA LUMPUR: FIFA President Sepp Blatter played the popularity card yesterday by defending under-fire 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar over what he called unfair European media attacks.
The issue of Qatar staging soccer’s biggest showpiece has been a thorny issue for the 77-year-old Swiss who said last Wednesday that the labour rights situation in the Gulf state was “unacceptable” amid a wave of negative headlines.
International players’ union FIFPro have asked Blatter to act for a French footballer, who says he is being prevented from leaving Qatar over a contract dispute with his club, while attempts to move the event from the traditional European summer months to winter have not been warmly received.
Blatter backed Qatar when he gave a speech to Asian Football Confederation members in Malaysia at the AFC awards yesterday. “It is not fair when the international media, and especially European media, are taking up the focus of an Arab country ... by attacking, attacking, criticising this country. We are defending it,” Blatter told delegates. Reuters
