Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter has claimed that Africa won’t host a World Cup again soon after South Africa 13 years ago.Blatter lauded South Africa for hosting the ‘best-ever’ World Cup.
Blatter lauded South Africa for hosting the ‘best-ever’ World Cup in 2010 but believes no African country has the capacity to organise the global tournament again, at least not soon.
The former Fifa boss says the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams means only countries with a lot of money can host it and is also not possible for a single country to carry the burden.
South Africa reportedly spent $7.2 billion to host the 2010 tournament which was won by Spain while Qatar, who hosted the 2022 edition, is estimated to have shelled out $220 billion, the most expensive in history.
“Unfortunately, there won’t be another World Cup in Africa in my life,” he said.
“With 48 teams in the world, you need more than one country to organise a World Cup, which is totally wrong. The movements taking place in football are towards Asia and Arabic countries because there is a lot of money.
“Europe must never forget what they did to Africa with the colonies. So, it’s time to pay something back. To give another World Cup there [Africa] would be nice,” said Blatter.
The 2030 World Cup cannot be held in Asia or North America, following the selection of Qatar for 2022, and Canada, Mexico and the United States for 2026, leaving Africa, Europe and South America in the running.