Outrageously crazy decision to award it in the first place, simply a bent FIFA decision. Have no doubt whatsoever serious money passed hands from Qatati government to senior FIFA officials and Country reps. After admitting it might have been a "mistake" Septic Bladder also alludes to the decision being made on "social " grounds, i.e., 1st Muslim country. The huge bungs of course, had nothing to do with the decision. Australia and USA now looking to take FIFA to court to recover the cost of their bids, since it is clear the bid was never fair and Qatar had been chosen by FIFA, for all the wrong reasons, long before the official presentation. Now there is the probability it will need a change of seasons to work, throwing many countries home Leagues into a shambles. Either that or play it in 50C heat in air conditioned stadiums costing $100 Billion to build. Ever been in 50C heat ???? I have, and you can't even breath let alone walk around, so hopeless for any fans, who of course don't matter a toss to FIFA. Now we have Nepalese workers dying, not being paid and being enslaved by Qatari construction companies to build the bloody infrastructure. Enough. Enough of Qatar, enough of FIFA, enough of the toxic Septic Bladder.
Not to mention it could take place during Ramadan which would mean no food or drink allowed during sunlight hours.
How Blatter has got away with this is beyond me! The man is either an arch criminal who should have been nicked, or he's got cotton wool for brains! There cant be a person on the planet(outside of Qatar) who would have voted for this.
I agree with everything but there is one factor to consider...it is a world cup and all areas of the world should have a chance to host. Don't think it is right to just pretty much rotate between Europe and the Americas because we have the climate to hold the tournaments in June/July. Football truely is the global game and in principle I agree that everyone should have a fair shot of hosting the event. If it means a break in the p.l season and maybe a few tweeks (shorter C.L that year for instance) than so be it. 100% agree that money was the main motivation here though. What football pedigree does Qatar have?! They'd have never got it if they were a poorer nation. Also think the human rights element has to come into it. Australia probably should have got this one, they've never hosted, usually qualify for the world cups, no human right issues etc. Bit of a pain to get to I guess for the majority of the main footbal community though.
To be fair Qatar do OK in their world cup group, especially considering they have a small population and a not very football friendly climate. Same goes for the UAE and Bahrain, they all have quite skillful players especially forwards. It's just that the climate is so wrong. Look I don't suppose they bribed more than many other countries, it's just that FIFA made a really big pigs ear of the whole thing. The work practices in that area are well known to be appalling and many cases of enslavement of especially women from the sub continent are well documented. Just a classic case of Septic Bladder taking the money and not doing his job. This has put football back 10 years in the eyes of many countries who do the right thing.
What was really wrong as well is that Fifa held the bidding on the pretense everyone had a fair shot when (cynically) it went to the highest bribe or at the very least went to a more developing nation / footbal community ala S.Africa 2010. If Fifa are only going to give it to such countires, don't waste the likes of England's time and money bidding on something they had no chance of winning. Qatar's bid fails in so many catergories yet it is clear some catergories (has it had the W.C before?, developing area etc) held a lot more weight than tradition, readiness to hold the event, climate etc etc. USA didn't help themselves though. They had it in 94, how the hell did they think they'd get it so soon again?!?!
Don't think it was a wise decision to give Qatar 2022 considering the amount of disruption caused by a winter break and the inevitable return of the walking wounded after the cessation of hostilities; even Blatter has regretted giving them the nod - Australia would've been a smarter choice.
