Qatar World Cup - why is it there?

Qatar have wont the right to host the 2022 World Cup. But why?
It seemed so out of the blue too. Everyone was bidding for the 2018 World Cup and all the focus was on that - and suddenly - "by the way we have given the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

Qatar don't really have a football team or a real football league (in my opinion). They don't have any stadiums for World Cup matches. They don't have a football history or infrastructure.

Qatar have never qualified for a World Cup. They have never made it past the quarter finals of the Asian Cup. In fact, their current FIFA ranking puts them outside the top 100 nations in the world. So they host the World Cup and get a free ride into the Finals. Clever.

50 degrees centigrade in Summer there. Their bed hinged on air conditioned stadiums being built but has now been scrapped. Imagine the heat, not only during a game for players but also fans. And then imagine walking or getting the train to the ground packed in. A few heat exhaustion deaths coming up - especially with people drinking.

Oh, but isn't drinking banned in most places over there?

They will have to build new stadiums from scratch. And without a football culture what will they do with all the stadiums after the cup. Should they really be advocating this waste of money?

Only 1.7 million people live in Qatar. Should everyone really be dragged out there to watch the worlds biggest sports event when there is hardly anyone even there? At least do it in a country where there are literally millions of football fans.

Qatar refuse to recognise Isreal as a state. What happens when Isreal come to play? Imagine if England refused to recognise someone? I thought the World Cup rules were strict about how accommodating they had to be. ie - they were papping on about unruly Scottish fans damaging Englands world cup bid because they drink too much etc.

Qatar persecute women, Jews and gays. Oh well.

Blatter was up to his neck in back handers over this one. The place is hardly a hotbed of football.

The players will have to play in sweltering heat. I think UEFA shot themselves in the foot over this one. Time will tell but the whole deal reeks of corruption.

Reebok Trotter wrote:Blatter was up to his neck in back handers over this one. The place is hardly a hotbed of football.

The players will have to play in sweltering heat. I think UEFA shot themselves in the foot over this one. Time will tell but the whole deal reeks of corruption.

Totally corrupt. The sooner Football is rid of Sepp Blatter the better!

There's now serious talk of the tournament being played in winter to help with the heat, totally mucking up the domestic season in Europe in the process.

All I can say to Sepp and FIFA is...

One word answer: money.

xmiles wrote:One word answer: money.

Same reason it's in Russia in 2018 and not England.

Both Russia and Qatar have to build a lot of new stadia to be able to hold the tornaments. The more construction contracts they have in these two countries the more money Sepp Blatter and co can cream. If it was to be held in England, the grounds are already in place so there is less money to pay themselves and they would have to deal with the FA. It would simply be a lose lose situation for Blatter and his merry men.

Why not? Does the WC always have to be in a Western Country that suits the brits who want to go and get rat arsed.

One of the aims of awarding a world cup to a nation is to promote the game in that region, so Russia has a legitimate case but there is almost no case for holding it in the middle of the desert, unless camels are good at footy. On the other hand the main aim is to line the pockets of FIFA representatives so job done, both are excellent choices.

I played in Qatar in the 70s and the stadia are excellent, the media are excellent (Al Jazeera etc) and for a tiny country with an indigenous population of around 20k they have excelled in sport, athletics in particular. This is largely because they have more money per capita than anywhere else so investment in sport is huge. Every western country and many others have a vested interest in Qatar - everyone wants a piece of the oil wealth and us Brits in particular made a fortune after we installed the Al Thani's as the royal family. Strategically it's important too and politically the West is right behind them as they're a strong Sunni ally at a time when the West has an issue with the Shiites. The deal to get the World Cup stinks of backhanders but that's the norm. No Arab state has ever hosted the World Cup, and on that level it's understandable why the fuss has been minimalised, especially in the current climate. From a footie perspective, the Gulf area has slowly improved in the last 30 years - Saudi Arabia for example has made a better showing in the World Cup than most second-string European nations - so there's a solid case for supporting further development in the area.
Don't like the implicit corruption, the fawning to a strong political and economic ally etc. but it's totally understandable why the Qataris got it - and they'll do a fantastic job.

Basically, we spent A stupid amount of money on convincing FIFA that the birthplace of football, the place where its a part of our culture and heritage was the best place to hold the world cup...

This was a mistake.

We basically should have put all the money in a brown envelope and handed it to FIFA.

I have a feeling, as well as bribes (sorry - promises of gifts) there is a political reason for doing this - the west needs oil, Qatar have a lot.

I will contemplate going to Russia, but im not going to Qatar - Not unless they sort out their backward sharia laws.

can you imagine people getting flogged for trying to have a pint or getting locked up for 20 years for taking their shirts off?

What a load of bullshit...

Why did the England bid think it had a divine right to win?

And why did they put up the FIFA delegates in luxury five star accommodation for free when they came over here and then moan about the other countries doing the same.

/bitter.

We should have tortured them to get our own way. It has certainly worked in the past.

Reebok_Rebel wrote:

I will contemplate going to Russia, but im not going to Qatar.

I wont be contemplating either. It costs me all my disposable income just following Wanderers home and away.

The plans for the Qatar World Cup look amazing, it has to be admitted. But I still find it amazing that a minor race related incident with an English team can supposedly affect our chances of a winning bid but Qatar officially refuse to recognise Israel still - that didn't affect their bid.

Biggie wrote:The plans for the Qatar World Cup look amazing, it has to be admitted. But I still find it amazing that a minor race related incident with an English team can supposedly affect our chances of a winning bid but Qatar officially refuse to recognise Israel still - that didn't affect their bid.

Officially - of course. They have no choice if they wish to keep their role as the moderate Arab nation Western puppet. They play both sides of the fence expertly. Israel are under no illusions that they and the Qataris are on the same side when it comes to the reality of economics v the game that is politics.