Dirty TackleSepp Blatter calling Qatar World Cup 'a mistake' is just his latest attempt to deflect blame for anything ever
Nothing is ever FIFA president Sepp Blatter's fault. When he finally uttered the words that the world has been waiting nearly four years to hear — that awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was "of course a mistake" — he managed to do it in the most self-serving and wrong way possible.
As Blatter would go on to explain, he only saw the tiny nation without the infrastructure necessary to put on the event as an improper choice to host not because of the hundreds of migrant workers who have died in Qatar's deplorable working conditions but because of the original problem pointed out by everyone else before the winning bid was even announced: the heat.
And what will FIFA do about that now besides the strong possibility of moving the World Cup to the winter and disrupting the world's football calendar to do it? Nothing. Because as Blatter dismissively points out, everyone makes mistakes.
From the Guardian:
"Yes, it was a mistake of course, but one makes lots of mistakes in life," said Blatter, Fifa's president, in an interview with the Swiss broadcaster RTS. "The technical report into Qatar said clearly it was too hot but the executive committee – with a large majority – decided all the same to play it in Qatar."
Did you catch that? It's not Blatter's fault the technical report into Qatar was ignored. He knows it's too hot there. It's the executive committee that's the problem. And since not just any majority, but a large majority of them chose Qatar, well, what could he possibly done to stop them?
But Sepp Blatter, who suddenly decided to run for re-election as FIFA president before saying this, has a few more people not named Sepp Blatter who you should blame for this situation.
"I will never say that [Qatar] bought it, because it was political pushing. Really, both in France and Germany," he added. This echoes his blame-deflecting comments in November of last year.
From the AP:
Speaking at a Rome press conference, Blatter said the vote to award the tournament to Qatar was influenced by "political pressure from European countries...because there were so many economic interests."
"Two of these countries pressured the voting men in FIFA: France and Germany...I think the heads of state of these two countries should also express what they think of this situation," Blatter said.
"It's easy to say all the responsibilities lie on FIFA. No, no, we are part of this responsibility," Blatter said.
This isn't even the first time Blatter has publicly questioned FIFA's choice of World Cup hosts, though. Following the widespread protests in Brazil during last summer's Confederations Cup demanding that FIFA leave the country, Blatter's response was to say, "If this happens again, we have to question whether we made the wrong decision in awarding the hosting rights." And to drive home the point that FIFA weren't to blame for any of the problems directly related to their own tournament, Blatter added, "It's not we who have to learn lessons from the protests in Brazil - politics in Brazil have to do that. FIFA cannot be held responsible."
So, again, it's never Sepp Blatter's fault. And if you do try to hold him accountable or simply voice your grievances with him, then you're an idiot. After getting booed during the women's football medal ceremony at the London 2012 Olympics, Blatter reveled in his Teflon Don mentality.
"Stars are always booed so I'm a star, you have to take it this way," he said. "I thought that the public in the Olympic Games would be a little bit better educated."
Nothing is ever Sepp Blatter's fault. He is a star and the mistakes are always those of the inferior beings he is forced to share this planet with. If there's anyone in this situation you should feel sorry for, it's definitely poor old Sepp Blatter. But luckily he's not making his plight any worse by thinking about all those people dying to build the sporting event for which he is ultimately in charge.
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is the editor of Dirty Tackle on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow on Twitter! Follow @BrooksDT
