Manama: Yousuf Al Qaradawi, a Doha-based leading Islamic scholar, has criticised US President Barack Obama's remarks about Fifa's decision to pick Qatar over the United States and other countries to host the 2022 World Cup.

In his remarks, he said the US wanted to have a monopoly on everything, including sports.

The US president said that the international football federation made the wrong decision after it selected Qatar over the US bid. But Al Qaradawi blasted the official reaction.

‘Bad comment'

"It was a very bad comment by Obama. This means that he was intervening in a decision that was made through voting," he said.

"It seems that the US wants to have the monopoly on everything in the world from politics to sports," Al Qaradawi said, quoted by Qatari media.