German football chief criticizes Qatar decision

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German football federation’s outgoing president has again sharply criticized FIFA’s decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, saying the Gulf nation is too small to host the event.

Theo Zwanziger said Qatar had been rated as the worst of all the candidates bidding for the 2022 World Cup. Qatar won the final vote over the United States. Australia, Japan and South Korea also made unsuccessful bids.

“Political interests should not prevail if the fundamentals, the sporting conditions, have been somewhat perverted,” Zwanziger said Wednesday. “I never understood how such a small country could get the World Cup.”

Zwanziger is a member of FIFA’s executive committee. He was appointed in October to head one of the new committees established to clean up football’s governing body, which has been fighting allegations of bribery and corruption.

On Friday, Zwanziger announced he would step down next October, one year earlier than his term was scheduled to finish.

General secretary Wolfgang Niersbach was picked Wednesday as his designated successor.