French FIFA candidate threatens to strip Qatar of 2022 World Cup if he succeeds Blatter

Jerome Champagne is the only person to make a formal declaration of candidacy for the presidential race next May

Champagne is free to speak - as a current FIFA outsider - in a way in which Sepp Blatter cannot as current president

Champagne knows FIFA inside out and is campaigning on an agenda of radical reform



The Frenchman who could follow Sepp Blatter as the most powerful figure in world football has promised that he will consider stripping Qatar of the 2022 World Cup if elected as the next FIFA president.

Frenchman Jerome Champagne, 55, a former diplomat and a long-serving senior FIFA insider until 2010, is the only person yet to make a formal declaration of candidacy for the presidential race next May.

Blatter has suggested strongly he will stand, in which case Champagne will have an uphill task.

Bid: Jerome Champagne is the only person to make a formal declaration of candidacy for presidential race

But if Blatter's bid was stymied by health or other reasons then Champagne, a former aide, will have Blatter's influential backing, and a good chance of success.

The significance of Champagne speaking out on Qatar should not be underestimated because he is free to speak - as a current FIFA outsider - in a way in which Blatter cannot as current president.

'If nothing irregular has happened then maybe the World Cup does still go [to Qatar],' says Champagne. 'And if it has happened then all options, including moving the World Cup, have to be on the table.'

In an exclusive interview with the Mail on Sunday, Champagne says Qatar's treatment of migrant workers is under scrutiny and could cost them. New figures show more than 430 Nepalese workers have died in Qatar since January 2012, and more than 567 Indian workers. They still die at a rate of more than one a day.

The second threat to Qatar 2022 is the logistical difficulty of moving the tournament to winter to avoid the unplayable heat of summer.



Surprise: FIFA President Sepp Blatter announces Qatar as the host nation for the FIFA World Cup 2022

The third threat is an anti-corruption probe headed by American lawyer Michael Garcia, seeking wrongdoing in the bidding process.

Separate FIFA evaluation processes are under way into all three areas and due to be concluded by early next year, though Champagne admits key decisions could fall to the next president. 'Sure. It could land on my desk,' he says.

He insists he has no anti-Qatar agenda, having lived and worked in the Middle East, somewhere he believes a future World Cup should be staged.

'I lived in this area, I learned Arabic,' he says. 'I love the region and I think it's a good thing to take the World Cup to a cultural area where it has never been organised. But for me it's clear [that for Qatar to keep 2022] we need to know the outcome of three processes.

'First, we cannot go to a World Cup on the blood and death of workers. Second, the disruption will be huge if the tournament is moved to winter. Last, but not least, I don't know what is in Michael Garcia's report, but we need to go with a clear mind to the World Cup without any allegations in the back of the brain.'

Champagne knows FIFA inside out and is campaigning on an agenda of radical reform, aimed at purging the governing body of corruption and sharing wealth more fairly.

Concern: Champagne says Qatar's treatment of workers is under scrutiny and could cost them

He says he was 'flabbergasted' in December 2010 when FIFA's 22-man executive committee voted for Qatar to stage the 2022 event.

'If I had been in the ExCo I would have voted for Russia for 2018 and USA for 2022. Why? Because I felt we should continue the continental rotations and for 2022 it was time to go back to the North American continent, in my view.'

He says that holding a World Cup in North America in 2022 would have opened up the possibility of a 2026 World Cup with bids from Japan, Korea, China and perhaps India, Indonesia or a 'dream Arab candidacy' of a coalition of Gulf states. Those options for 2026 may still come to pass in the extraordinary event that Qatar lost 2022 and it was reassigned, perhaps to USA.

Champagne has first-hand knowledge of workers' welfare issues in the Gulf as his first diplomatic assignment was in Oman.

'We cannot go and rejoice in stadiums, have a celebration of football, knowing it has been done on the blood, suffering and death of workers,' he adds. 'I welcome that (German ExCo member) Theo Zwanziger said that in future, human rights has to be integrated in the criteria of the bidding. I'm in favour of organising World Cups in democracies.'

Champagne warns that changing the date of Qatar from June-July 2022 to winter would have 'tremendous consequences on the organisation of football' with the knock-on effect damaging seasons before and after. He adds: 'I was privileged to get hold of a very, very good document compiled by the EPFL (the organisation of European leagues), which shows how disruptive it would be, not only in Europe but all around the world.'