article_snippet: FIFA president Sepp Blatter responded by claiming the 2018 World Cup could actually help bring peace.
article_snippet: FIFA president Sepp Blatter said FIFA president Sepp Blatter had been buoyed by IOC president Thomas Bach and German FA president Wolfgang Niersbach coming out against a boycott.
article_snippet: Asked whether FIFA should apologise for the chaos caused by playing the Qatar tournament in winter, FIFA president Sepp Blatter added: 'This was a decision taken by executive committee of FIFA, FIFA have a right to do it.
article_snippet: FIFA has announced FIFA made a profit of $338m (£227.2m) over the last four years and now has cash in FIFA totalling $1.5bn (£1bn).
article_snippet: FIFA president Sepp Blatter said reserves that size are needed in case a World Cup, which generates almost all the money for FIFA, had to be moved or postponed.
article_snippet: FIFA has also moved to head off opposition from the clubs over playing the 2018 World Cup in Qatar in the winter by trebling the amount clubs who release players will receive for the tournaments from $70m (£47.3m) in Brazil last year to $209m (£141.3m) for Russia and Qatar.
article_snippet: Blatter, 79, is standing for a fifth term of president on May 29 and faces three rivals, but has so far not released a manifesto.
article_snippet: Asked about that issue, he responded: 'I am not campaigning, I am doing my job as FIFA president and I will do that until last day of my mandate which was given to he in 2011. '