Embattled FIFA president Sepp Blatter claims in an interview on Sunday that French and German presidents put political pressure on their representatives to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar for business reasons. “Look at the German companies!” he said before naming railway and construction firms. “Deutsche Bahn, Hochtief and many more had projects in Qatar even before the World Cup was awarded.” Blatter claimed that former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German counterpart Christian Wulff were actively in favor of the Russian and Qatari bids.
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