Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter criticized the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams, describing it as a monster that “has been unleashed” ahead of next summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Blatter, who left the office in disgrace as a corruption scandal unraveled, reflected on the changes to the sport since his 2015 resignation, some of which he set into motion. Soccer’s governing body ramped up its commercial operation during Blatter’s 17-year spell, but not without controversy.
“Soccer has become faster, more physical, and better,” Blatter told CBS Sports ahead of a feature looking back on the 1994 World Cup draw in the United States. “And off the field, it has become more expensive, richer, and much, much bigger. I remember [former FIFA president João] Havelange saying to me, ‘Sepp, you’ve created a monster.’ And when I look ahead to the tournament in three countries with 48 teams, I have to say: the monster has been unleashed.”
Blatter also pointed to fixture congestion, which has forced many to raise concerns about player welfare, as an issue plaguing the sport currently, though did not mention any specific tournaments by name. The increased World Cup field, as well as the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup, were projects designed by Blatter’s successor Gianni Infantino, who has drawn mixed reactions for his decisions.
“I’m no judge — and it’s not up to me to answer that question,” he said when prompted about FIFA’s direction since Infantino took charge. “But what I can say is this: today we have too many competitions and tournaments with inflated formats. You could say that there’s too much soccer at the moment. And the soccer is too much political — with the new President Gianni Infantino.”
Infantino has ingratiated himself with world leaders in countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. since becoming FIFA president in February 2016. The current FIFA president has resided in Qatar and reportedly frequently uses a private plane owned by the country and awarded the 2034 World Cup hosting rights to Saudi Arabia after a bidding process that drew plenty of criticism last year.
He also often appears alongside U.S. president Donald Trump, who Infantino has called a “great friend,” joining him at events where it would be unlikely to spot a sporting dignitary, such as the Gaza Summit in October as a ceasefire deal was being brokered to end the Israel-Hamas War and during Trump’s visit to the Middle East in May. The latter prompted Infantino to arrive several hours late to the annual FIFA Congress, this year hosted in Asuncion, Paraguay, resulting in several members walking out.
The new FIFA president, though, arguably picked up from where the old one left off. Blatter’s most controversial decision in his 17 years as the FIFA president came in 2010, when several members of the voting body were allegedly accused of taking bribes to ensure the once little-known gulf nation would host the 2022 World Cup. That tournament was eventually marred by concerns over human rights violations, with at least 6,500 migrant workers dying as Qatar built stadiums and other infrastructure for the tournament, according to The Guardian.
Blatter was a central figure as a corruption scandal became public knowledge in 2015 through separate investigations by the governments of the U.S. and Switzerland, where FIFA is headquartered. Several FIFA members and executives at sports marketing companies were indicted in the U.S. on charges related to bribery and money laundering, while criminal proceedings against Blatter began in his native Switzerland on matters of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of funds.
The ex-FIFA president resigned from the job shortly after several FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich in 2015 and he later received an eight-year ban from soccer activities. Most recently, he and Michel Platini, a France international who went on to become UEFA president and was seen as Blatter’s heir apparent at FIFA, were cleared of corruption charges related to allegations of fraud in a Swiss court in March.
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