‘Betrayed promises’ cost China a chance to host World Cup, says Fifa candidate Jerome Champagne
Sepp Blatter’s former right-hand man hints tournament could still be taken away from Middle East nation, potentially opening the door for China
Jerome Champagne, the former Fifa insider who is running for president in the upcoming election, claims China could have hosted the 2026 World Cup before “betrayed promises” saw Qatar take Asia’s “turn” in 2022 – but he hinted the Middle East state could still lose the tournament.
The Frenchman, who was disgraced ex-president Sepp Blatter’s right-hand man for 11 years before being fired in 2010, says Blatter’s plan was for 2022 to go to the US and 2026 to Asia. Under Fifa’s rules, a continent currently cannot host twice in a row, meaning it will be 2030 at the earliest before China can bid – if 2022 goes ahead as planned in Qatar.
The controversial award to Qatar helped prompt the current corruption crisis that has engulfed football’s world governing body.
“We would have had traditional bids like Japan and Korea but we would have had new countries bidding for the World Cup: Indonesia, ... India ... China and that was the goal. All that was changed when some people inside the exco [executive committee] betrayed their promises.”
Champagne is seen as an outsider in the February 26 election against Asian football chief Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa, Jordanian Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino and South African Tokyo Sexwale.
But he insisted he was optimistic his reform agenda could prove popular given the scandals that have dogged football’s governing body.
