World Cup

Sepp Blatter: 'France, Germany intervened politically in World Cup bids'

By Jack Prescott, Rugby Editor | 05 July 2015

FIFA president Sepp Blatter claims that France and Germany intervened politically during the voting process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has claimed that there were "political interventions" from France and Germany during the voting process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Qatar was awarded the 2018 tournament back in 2010, while Russia is due to host the competition in 2022.

However, the FBI and Swiss authorities are currently investigating the bidding processes around both tournaments as part of a wider investigation into alleged corruption within FIFA.

Blatter has now accused former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his German counterpart Christian Wulff of trying to influence how votes were cast five years ago.

"Before the World Cups were awarded to Russia and Qatar, there were two political interventions. Messrs Sarkozy and Wulff tried to influence their vote-makers," he told Welt am Sonntag. "That is the reason why we now have a World Cup in Qatar. Those who decided this should also take the responsibility."

Blatter recently hinted that he would make a fresh bid to remain as FIFA president after previously announcing his intention to resign amid claims of alleged corruption.