When Qatar was announced as the hosts of the 2022 World Cup, it caused a tremendous amount of controversy and now with recent influential football figures backing the proposal for it to clash with the Winter Olympics, the feud could spark into life again.
I remember in 2010 being told that the World Cup was being held in Qatar, and looking towards my friends with a quizzical appearance and in my naivety and adolescent nature retorted with the sentence, "I thought a guitar was a musical instrument?" From that short anecdote, I am sure you can tell that what I am about to write will not be showing any great faith in the actions of FIFA with regards to the allocation of the 2022 World Cup.
To begin with, how Qatar were ever elected hosts of the World Cup ahead of Australia and the USA is beyond me. As far as I can see, both of these nations would be better equipped to host the tournament than Qatar. Australia and the US already has quality fully developed stadiums from hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2003 and 1994 World Cup respectively, including the Suncorp Stadium, ANZ Stadium and the Docklands Stadium, all of which hold over 52,000 seats. Likewise, the Americans have little problem with world class stadiums, Sun Life Stadium and Michigan Stadium to name a couple. As we saw from the World Cup past, construction of the stadia in Brazil came under critical analysis from the higher powers in the footballing world, but they decided to persevere, and numerous deaths were caused due to cursory preparations and the pressure that the stadia all had to be ready in time.
We're no more than 8 years from the beginning of the World Cup and already there have been claims that basic human rights denied to the workers. In addition to this, The Guardian newspaper have alleged that identity papers have been taken away from them and that their payments would not be paid on time, or even possibly at all. You'd think that a nation such as Qatar who built all their riches on oil, would be able to part themselves with a few coins and give them to the workers, who are building the stadia to facilitate this momentous event? From where I am sitting, it doesn't appear that this is the case.
Back in March, I wrote a piece entitled, "Will the World Cup be a Success?" in relation to my worries over the World Cup in Brazil, it seems now that I will be doing another one in the future to pen my concerns about it in Qatar. We were very cynical of the 8 deaths in the construction of the Brazilian stadiums, but when rumours sparked that 900 migrants have already lost their lives, FIFA and the Qatari football federation have questions to answer. In the report compiled by The Guardian, it estimates that up to 4,000 workers may die due to inadequate safety regulations and other causes by the time a ball is kicked. Rather selfishly however, FIFA may see this frightening statistic as a dampener on their reputation.
Disregarding the fact that FIFA have given the prized tournament to, in my opinion an unworthy nation, I tepidly applaud them for pushing the motion of staging the World Cup in the winter. Yes it will sent the European leagues' schedules up the left, which Richard Scudamore is arguing, but player safety is paramount and he seems to be neglecting this issue. Even in winter, the middle eastern country gets highs of 24oC, marginally higher than what we get here in Northern Ireland, so you could imagine what the temperature would be like in the peak of summer. It's not just the players that will suffer, the management and spectators alike will. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that alcohol dehydrates, so this doesn't look bright for the English fans who will no doubt have to drown their sorrows with the local beverage.
Controversy surrounds the 2022 host city and things only look like intensifying as the tournament draws nearer, while Australia and USA will be left cursing at how they didn't become hosts of the competition. While Blatter's corrupt regime rules over the world of football, it could be a long time before 'sensible' decisions return to our game.
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| In fairness to Qatar, if they can pull of stadiums like this, then they deserve some credit |
We're no more than 8 years from the beginning of the World Cup and already there have been claims that basic human rights denied to the workers. In addition to this, The Guardian newspaper have alleged that identity papers have been taken away from them and that their payments would not be paid on time, or even possibly at all. You'd think that a nation such as Qatar who built all their riches on oil, would be able to part themselves with a few coins and give them to the workers, who are building the stadia to facilitate this momentous event? From where I am sitting, it doesn't appear that this is the case.
Back in March, I wrote a piece entitled, "Will the World Cup be a Success?" in relation to my worries over the World Cup in Brazil, it seems now that I will be doing another one in the future to pen my concerns about it in Qatar. We were very cynical of the 8 deaths in the construction of the Brazilian stadiums, but when rumours sparked that 900 migrants have already lost their lives, FIFA and the Qatari football federation have questions to answer. In the report compiled by The Guardian, it estimates that up to 4,000 workers may die due to inadequate safety regulations and other causes by the time a ball is kicked. Rather selfishly however, FIFA may see this frightening statistic as a dampener on their reputation.
Disregarding the fact that FIFA have given the prized tournament to, in my opinion an unworthy nation, I tepidly applaud them for pushing the motion of staging the World Cup in the winter. Yes it will sent the European leagues' schedules up the left, which Richard Scudamore is arguing, but player safety is paramount and he seems to be neglecting this issue. Even in winter, the middle eastern country gets highs of 24oC, marginally higher than what we get here in Northern Ireland, so you could imagine what the temperature would be like in the peak of summer. It's not just the players that will suffer, the management and spectators alike will. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that alcohol dehydrates, so this doesn't look bright for the English fans who will no doubt have to drown their sorrows with the local beverage.Controversy surrounds the 2022 host city and things only look like intensifying as the tournament draws nearer, while Australia and USA will be left cursing at how they didn't become hosts of the competition. While Blatter's corrupt regime rules over the world of football, it could be a long time before 'sensible' decisions return to our game.
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