Former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter has said awarding the World Cup to Qatar was a mistake and a “bad choice”.

He was president when Qatar unexpectedly beat the US in a 2010 vote.

Mr Blatter told Swiss media that the country was “too small”, saying “football and the World Cup are too big for that”. Qatar is just over half the size of Wales.

“It was a bad choice. And I was responsible for that as president at the time,” the 86-year-old said.

However, he didn’t cite human rights concerns as a reason for his assessment.

With the competition less than a fortnight away, criticisms have been mounting over Qatar’s attitude to gay people and injuries and deaths of migrant workers who built its stadiums.

A tournament ambassador this week described homosexuality as “damage in the mind”, adding to unease over holding the event in the conservative Islamic state.

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Mr Blatter told Swiss newspaper group Tamedia that a meeting between former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and ex-UEFA boss Michel Platini was crucial in swinging key votes.

Mr Platini was invited to the presidential palace a week before the December 2010 vote and the Qatari crown prince, now the Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was there.

Sepp Blatter repeated his claim that the ex-president put pressure on Mr Platini to change his vote.

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“Thanks to the four votes of Mr Platini and his (UEFA) team, the World Cup went to Qatar rather than the United States. It’s the truth,” Mr Blatter said.

Mr Platini told the AP news agency in 2015: “Sarkozy never asked me to vote for Qatar, but I knew what would be good” and acknowledged he “might have told” US officials that he would vote for them.

Mr Blatter and Mr Platini were cleared of corruption this summer after a payment of two million Swiss francs (£1.7m) from FIFA to Mr Platini was exposed in 2015.

The World Cup starts on 20 November, with 32 teams competing in eight stadiums in and around the capital, Doha.

About 1.2 million international visitors are expected but many will commute in from neighbouring countries as accommodation is limited.

It was switched to a winter tournament to avoid Qatar’s searing summer temperatures.

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