Zidane: Qatar deserved the World Cup

Qatar were worthy winners of hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup according to French football legend Zinedine Zidane.

FIFA’s decision to award the tournament to the small Arabic nation has triggered much debate, with critics pointing to the extreme heat and lack of football history in the country.

Qatar have never qualified for the World Cup finals and will be the smallest nation to ever host the World Cup.

But Zidane, who was paid a reported 15 million pounds to be an ambassador for the Qatari bid, said the 2022 World Cup would be for all of the Middle East, not just Qatar.

“Soccer belongs to everyone. With the Qatar candidacy, it is a country of the Middle East which is represented,” Zidane said.

“There are 400 million Arabs in the Middle East nowadays, in 2022 there will be six or 700 million, so this means with the Qatar candidacy soccer belongs to everyone, like that of Russia which also got the World Cup.”

“And after having said that, we will have the one continent (left) which will be Australia, so we will have to give it one day to Australia.”

Zidane was speaking after the ‘Match Against Poverty’ in Athens on Tuesday, a charity match which raised money for people in Haiti and Pakistan.

Zidane, along with a host of other star players took to the field for a celebrity side representing the United Nations Development Program, which faced Greek side Olympiakos.

The match finished in a 2-2 draw.

“I support this because I believe that everyone should be on board,” Zidane said.

“I am fully committed to this. It is a complicated situation, but if you tell yourself it’s too complicated then you will never do anything.”

“I have a feeling that with this match, to know that we are raising people’s awareness, to see the stadiums full, the fact that people will come to see a charity game, is always a good thing.”