Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said football has been \u201clost\u201d to Saudi Arabia and criticised his former employer\u2019s role in offering \u201cno opposition\u201d to the Middle East nation.<\/p>\n
In December, Saudi was confirmed as the host nation of the 2034 men\u2019s World Cup<\/a> following an unopposed bid for the tournament.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia has invested significantly in football in recent years, most notably in 2023 as its Public Investment Fund (PIF) took control of four domestic teams<\/a> \u2014 Al Ahli, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Nassr \u2014 in the Saudi Pro League (SPL), a year after PIF bought an 85 per cent stake in Premier League club Newcastle United.<\/p>\n FIFA\u2019s $1 billion broadcast deal for the newly-expanded Club World Cup with DAZN \u2014 now part-owned by PIF\u2019s sports arm SURJ \u2014 is another element of the Middle Eastern nation\u2019s dominant position in the sport.<\/p>\n Other Saudi brands, meanwhile, have been promoted across recent club and international showpieces including Aramco, Riyadh Air and Visit Saudi.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have lost football to Saudi Arabia,\u201d Blatter told German TV channel ntv<\/a>. \u201cWe offered it, and they took it.<\/p>\n \u201cSurprisingly, there is no opposition to this within FIFA.\u201d<\/p>\n Blatter also spoke about his concerns about FIFA\u2019s newly-expanded Club World Cup, with the new-look, 32-team tournament held in the U.S. this summer.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s too much football,\u201d Blatter said about the tournament. \u201cThe same players and clubs are repeatedly affected, without adequate rest.\u201d<\/p>\n Blatter also said the extreme heat, which has been a backdrop throughout the summer tournament, is \u201cunhealthy and impertinent\u201d.<\/p>\n The players union, FIFPRO, is among the critics who have called on FIFA to reconsider selecting kickoff times for matches around the middle of the afternoon<\/a>, to avoid the highest temperatures. Those slots, however, have been considered more attractive for broadcast audiences in Europe and Asia, though FIFA says it is looking at using covered stadiums for the warmest times.<\/a><\/p>\n The 89-year-old Swiss was also critical of the leadership of his successor as FIFA president Gianni Infantino.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cEverything is done electronically, and nobody says anything,\u201d said Blatter. \u201cYou can even arrive six hours late to a congress.\u201d<\/p>\n In May, FIFA\u2019s Congress in Paraguay was delayed<\/a> because Infantino had not arrived on time for the scheduled start time in Asuncion, having decided to join the U.S. president Donald Trump for a visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. A meeting of the FIFA Council earlier in the week also had to be altered to a virtual meeting.<\/p>\n Blatter became FIFA president in 1998. His reign as the most powerful figure in football was not without its own controversies, with several corruption scandals<\/a> hitting FIFA and the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 men\u2019s World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively attracting widespread criticism. Blatter said in 2022<\/a> that awarding that year\u2019s tournament to Qatar 12 years earlier had been \u201ca mistake\u201d.<\/p>\n