Twitter reaction to Blatter exit turns to Qatar World Cup

By Stephen Barry

Twitter’s largely overjoyed reaction to the exit of Sepp Blatter has turned towards the Qatar World Cup, which was awarded under his alleged reign of the corruption.

The Qatari national team happened to be playing Northern Ireland in a friendly two days prior to Blatter’s resignation, with fans singing anti-Sepp Blatter songs at the game:

Chant of the day from NI at the Qatari's - "How much did you pay for the @FIFAWorldCup ?" #GAWA #FIFA pic.twitter.com/6nJMW7eklr

— Josh Stead (@JoshSteadITV) May 31, 2015

Since then, many have speculated about the reasons for Blatter’s exit today:

Blatter out. There must be an awful lot more strife coming down the line to persuade a man as brazen as him to quit.

— Oliver Holt (@OllieHolt22) June 2, 2015

Blatter to Swiss TV on Friday: "Why would I step down? That would mean I recognise that I did wrong."

— Ben Rumsby (@ben_rumsby) June 2, 2015

FIFA Pres. Sepp Blatter, who says he is resigning, is being investigated by US as part of alleged corruption case.https://t.co/efYMWkKTpO

— ABC News (@ABC) June 2, 2015

Expect US court to unseal Chuck Blazer's testimony tmrw - could that be why Blatter went tonight before its full gory detail came out?

— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) June 2, 2015

But soon attention turned towards the Qatar World Cup, often seen as the pinnacle of Blatter’s corrupt regime.

Surely, Qatar 2022 must be vulnerable now. Although let's not forget, Platini voted for it, too.

— Oliver Holt (@OllieHolt22) June 2, 2015

If we held a minute's silence for each worker killed in Qatar to date, it would take 20 hours http://t.co/jw5eLN5XGR pic.twitter.com/uneoUE9Obu

— Aisha Dow (@aishamae) June 2, 2015

Not that Qatar stayed silent, sending a dig in the direction of the English team:

Qatar hits back:“We would urge Mr Dyke to ... concentrate on delivering his promise to build an England team capable of winning the 2022 WC"

— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) June 2, 2015

Others remained in the moment, taking time to celebrate Blatter's demise:

If Carlsberg did weeks of football, Blatter going followed by Messi and Pirlo contesting the Champions League final would take some beating.

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) June 2, 2015

Meanwhile, many saw it as an opportunity to air out many of Sepp’s worst moments:

Sepp Blatter resigns: The top ten most embarrassing quotes from the outgoing president http://t.co/hsxCEF3bal http://t.co/IbgLtWo4Gw

— The Independent (@Independent) June 2, 2015

Sepp Blatter resigns and John Oliver is drinking american champaigne as promised. https://t.co/JxU3SssLlU https://t.co/mJ9Oazgftb

— Gunnar Engblom (@Kolibrix) June 2, 2015

One wonders how he was re-elected only four days ago!