With just 10 days to go until the soccer World Cup, the beautiful game has been mired in more controversy, with former FIFA President Sepp Blatter calling Qatar’s hosting of the tournament a “mistake”. Blatter says Michel Platini, the former head of the Union of European Football Association, was pressured by France’s then-president Nicolas Sarkozy to cast the deciding votes for Qatar instead of the US. But, given Blatter and Platini were both accused of fraud, experts have questioned his motives for the comments. In another headache for organisers, former Qatari player/World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman described homosexuality as “damage in the mind” during a German TV interview. Qatar’s officials have been trying to reassure 1.2 million visitors that LGBTQIA+ people would be welcome, despite homosexuality being illegal.