Ex FIFA President Slams Decision to Host World Cup 2030 in Six Countries

• The hosting of the 2030 World Cup in six countries has continued to elicit mixed reactions
• Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter has joined forces with those condemning the decision
• Blatter served as head of the football body for 17 years before being hounded out of office

Former FIFA President, Sepp Blatter has strongly condemned the decision by the world football governing body to award the hosting rights of the 2030 World Cup to six countries.

The 2030 edition will be a special one as it will be the first one to be held in six countries across three continents.

Morocco, Spain and, Portugal will be the main hosts, but Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will play their opening matches in their respective countries to mark the centenary. The first World Cup was held in 1930, with Uruguay beating Argentina in the final.

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The three South American countries will play their opening games in their home countries before flying to Europe and North Africa - alongside their opponents - for the remainder of the World Cup.

Blatter condemns the 2030 World Cup idea

In what is set to be an unprecedented move from FIFA, Blatter has come out to slam the decision, as quoted by SonntagsBlick per Reuters:

"It is absurd to tear the tournament apart in this way. The World Cup finals must be a compact event," he said.

It is not the first time the former head honcho is not in agreement with who FIFA has awarded the hosting rights to.

He was similarly against the staging of the world's biggest football competition in Qatar last year, calling it 'too small', as reported by the Guardian.

The 87-year-old Swiss administrator served as the head of FIFA from 1988 to 2015 before being forced out on corruption charges.

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Benzema backs Saudi Arabia's World Cup bid

As Sports Brief previously reported, Saudi Arabia recently announced their intention to bid to host the 2034 World Cup.

The announcement came after Morocco, Spain, and Portugal were awarded the rights to host the tournament in 2030.

Al-Ittihad striker, Karim Benzema and Al-Ahli winger, Riyad Mahrez took to social media recently to back the Saudi bid.