Let’s compare two different Sepp Blatter quotes about the World Cup – one from when he was the president of FIFA and another from after he left power – and try to find some logic in his words.
Sepp Blatter in 2015:
“We had a discussion of the World Cup and then we went to a double decision – for the World Cups it was agreed that we go to Russia (for 2018)… and for 2022 we go back to America. And so we will have the World Cup in the two biggest political powers”
Sepp Blatter in 2026:
“The new president who speaks only with heads of states, and who has brought politics into this World Cup…Football is the most popular game in the world. And now they give the impression that politicians – on one side Saudi Arabia, and on the other side USA – will take over.”
In this story, the funniest thing is that Sepp Blatter was the man who also wanted to play political games (like Infantino now), but he probably doesn’t talk about it anymore.
You may not know this, but Sepp Blatter, who was leading FIFA for decades at that time, was reportedly planning to award the World Cup to Russia and then to the United States. Many people believe this was a politically motivated move, as both countries have long been global rivals, and Blatter seemed to be showing that football can also be part of political games.
However, this plan failed because Qatar heavily lobbied, mainly through French political circles, to support their bid to host the World Cup instead of the USA. It is worth noting that Michel Platini, another French figure in this story, was leading UEFA at the time, while at the same time PSG (French club) received new ownership from Qatar.
In the end, both Blatter and Platini ended badly, as both lost their reputations completely. This period also involved figures such as Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, who was later linked to corruption-related investigations…
Sepp Blatter’s quotes are interesting to analyse in the context of football’s shift from traditions to money. This is likely the first, but not the last, collection of Sepp Blatter’s quotes on our site and fifa world cup quotes as well…
sources:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/12/05/sepp-blatter-interview-gianni-infantino-trump-ronaldo-fifa/
https://time.com/4090867/fifa-sepp-blatter-vote/
