(CNN) -- The head of world soccer Sepp Blatter has again been caught up in controversy -- but this time it was all the fault of a fake FIFA president.
Blatter's Twitter account was hacked on Monday as was FIFA's official account for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
As well saying he was stepping down as FIFA president, the bogus tweets referred to Blatter and Qatar's winning 2022 World Cup bid.
"Some FIFA accounts, including @SeppBlatter and @fifaworldcup, have been hacked," said FIFA in a statement.
A group calling themselves the Syrian Electronic Army -- said to be supportive of the country's leader Bashar Al-Assad -- claimed responsibility for hacking the accounts.
"This sort of attack is about getting a point across," Sian John, security strategist at software and security firm Symantec, told CNN.
"Hacking comes back to manipulation. Some groups do it to gain money and some of them to do it to get a point across. There are different motivating factors."
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Last month, the Syrian Electronic Army hacked into several of British broadcaster the BBC's accounts.
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Prior to the hacking of Blatter, another Twitter account emerged -- @Fifnonymous -- which threatened to disclose confidential FIFA documents, though it was quickly deleted or suspended.
It is unclear whether the account was genuine or a hoax.
The announcement by FIFA in 2010 that Qatar would host the 2022 World Cup finals has brought greater exposure for the tiny emirate.
"At no time did an account with this name come up in any discussions with Twitter," a FIFA spokesman told CNN.
Other high-profile victims of hacking include Burger King and Jeep, whose Twitter accounts were both hijacked in February.
Twitter's own systems were hacked earlier this year, with attackers gaining access to usernames as well as encrypted and randomized passwords for about 250,000 users.
"As we are online so much more now, I'd expect to see more high-profile attacks," added John.
"It's not a reason to panic but a reason to take a step back and think how we should protect ourselves online.
"I spend most of my time trying to encourage companies to make information security a priority. People used to see it as an IT problem -- but now they see it as a business problem.
"The challenge for businesses now is how they manage the impact on their brand if they were to have an attack."
Blatter may have been targeted because he divides opinion, regularly attracting controversy over his leadership but also helping promote soccer across the globe.
A series of corruption scandals within FIFA, his botched re-election campaign -- where his only opponent was barred from standing after another corruption scandal -- and the failure of England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup to attract any interest in FIFA's corridors of power (despite having the best technical report) led to an outpouring of criticism of Blatter.
However, his dedication to grassroots football and the game's growth in Africa, the Middle East and Asia are widely regarded as positives of his presidency.
When Blatter joined the federation, 146 countries were members. Now, there are 209 member nations, earning Fifa the nickname the "United Nations of Football".
Despite the embarrassment for FIFA and Blatter, security expert John urged him to continue tweeting.
Password panic
"Open attacks are most often down to the users themselves," John explained. "Strong passwords are crucial to prevent hacking.
"I ask friends five questions and if any of the answers they give me are part of their passwords then they have failed the test.
"The questions are spouse's name, significant birthdays, favorite sporting team, siblings and pet's name. Many a dog has died and lived on in a password.
"The key is not panicking. There's no need to stay off social media or the internet -- it's about thinking about the dangers.
"Secure your password, don't use social media on free public wifi, don't let people see what you're typing -- and don't say something on social media which you wouldn't be prepared to shout out at in a public space."
A Twitter spokesman was not immediately available for comment on the hacking of the Blatter and FIFA's accounts.
FIFA president since 1998 , the 77-year-old Blatter has not yet announced whether he will be standing for a fifth term when his current term ends in 2015.
But if he does, he may want to set a new password first.
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In particular the plight of the country's migrant workers, who make up 90 per cent of Qatar's population, has been highlighted by the International Trade Union Confederation. The ITUC has called for FIFA to strip Qatar of the 2022 World Cup unless it significantly improves its record on worker rights.
The ITUC points to Qatar's system of sponsorship which ties workers to employers and has been abused in the past. They also point to the high number of worker deaths and the conditions that many find themselves in. Temperatures on building sites in the summer months can hit 50 degree Celcius.
Qatar's economy has boomed since it started exporting liquefied natural gas in 1997 -- only Luxembourg has a higher gross domestic product per capita. But the 2022 World Cup has sparked a construction boom in a race to ready Qatar's infrastructure for the tournament.
Qatar's ambitious plans include building brand new, state of the art stadiums that would rival any in the world.
To combat the intense desert heat in the summer, each stadium would be equipped with zero carbon cooling technology that would cool the pitch and the stands.
But costs have spiraled and the technology has yet to be successfully deployed in full. Qatar's 2022 World Cup organizing committee recently requested that the number of new stadiums it builds be reduced to eight or nine from the currently planned 12.
The Qataris have also been busy investing in football abroad. The Qatar Investment Authority bought a majority shareholding in French football club Paris Saint-Germain in May 2011, immediately making it one of the richest teams in Europe. Ex-Milan and Inter coach Leonardo, center, was appointed director of football, while Carlo Ancelotti (left) is now coach.
Qatar has its own 12-team top division, with the leading four clubs at the end of the season going into the Qatar Crown Prince Cup. Football is the most popular sport in the kingdom, with nearly 700,000 attending matches in any one season.
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nassar Al-Thani (left), a member of the Qatari royal family, bought Spanish club Malaga for €36 million ($48 million) in June 2010. The investment brought with it a place in this season's UEFA Champions League. Malaga went on to reach the quarterfinals.
Al Sadd's victory in the 2011 Asian Champions League final vindicated Qatar's decision to plough money into its coaching set-up rather than splash out on top overseas names. Just five of Al Sadd's playing roster were non-Qatari nationals.
Mohammed bin Hammam, Qatar's former high-ranking member of FIFA's executive committee as president of the Asian Football Confederation, was banned from football after being found guilty of trying to bribe delegates ahead of the 2011 presidential election in which he was to be Sepp Blatter's only opponent.
The issue of how migrant workers are treated has long been a hot topic in the Gulf. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain have all been criticized in the past for their poor treatment of guest workers. But the 2022 World Cup has focused attention on Qatar. Here one Indian worker proudly shows his ticket for a match at the 2011 Asian Cup finals, hosted in Doha.
Thousands of Indian workers were given the day off by their employers and given free tickets to watch India play at the tournament, even though most were ardent cricket fans. Many spoke of their relief at working in Doha, rather than any of the other Gulf cities near by.
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