Written by :
Published on :
Popular BBC sports broadcaster and a former footballer who holds the record for most goals scored by an English team in the World Cup, Gary Winston Lineker has blasted FIFA saying that the organization “makes me sick and (Sepp) Blatter runs it like a dictator”.
What apparently irks Lineker more than anything else is FIFA’s decision to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a move the former footballer calls “ludicrous”. Lineker, we should note, was part of the group looking to have England host the World Cup in 2018. Ultimately Russia won out.
He spoke exclusively with GQ Magazine.
“I was with David Beckham having a burger the night before the Qatar decision. We were out trying to get support ; Prince William and David Cameron were out there, too, and I said to Becks: ‘We are the only country doing this. The whole thing smells; it is a done deal.’
“It makes you feel sick, actually, the whole FIFA thing, the corruption at the top level is nauseating. Sepp Blatter likewise has run it like a dictatorship for so long and he comes out with so much nonsense.”
He added: “I am not against it going to different parts of the world but you’d have thought they might have known it would be very hot in summer. You have to be careful what you say, but the corruption is just … yuk.”
He went on to call FIFA “corrupt” and went as far as to suggest countries like England boycott future tournaments, while accepting that would probably never happen.
Lineker also discusses the need to curb gambling ad campaigns tied to sports such as soccer.
“I have turned down deals with alcohol firms over the years. I do not agree with it.
“The other thing that worries me is all the betting advertising and sponsorship in sport. All you ever see is commercials for gambling and apps, it is really dangerous and I think we need to do something about both of them, alcohol and gambling.
“Gambling is just too easy to do now and as a parent I worry about it, all those ads bombarding you with in-play betting.”
- Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com
