In round four, after eliminating Australia, Japan and South Korea, FIFA’s final vote was 8 for the USA and 14 for Qatar. Therefore, Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the middle of its two hottest months, when it is illegal for labourers to work outside if the temperature reaches the seasonal average of 40 degrees centigrade.
Either that, or the World Cup will be moved from Qatar’s summer to Qatar’s winter, sometime smack in the middle of several other international winter sports competitions, like Europe’s football season and the 2022 Winter Olympics, for instance.
No one seems to be quite sure just why the tiny and very wealthy emirate of Qatar won the coveted position of host, and hardly anyone seems to be happy about it. Sports fans, commentators and analysts from all over the place are logging in to express disbelief and dissatisfaction at what most are calling at best a huge gamble and at worst a total fiasco. There are of course rumours of knavery and corruption, though none have been even faintly confirmed. What is fairly certain is that FIFA’s credibility is at very low ebb.
Sepp Blatter has been FIFA’s president for 12 years now and apparently intends to go on for another four after the FIFA congress in Zurich this June. He said he would personally clean up the Association’s image, proposing a new committee to oversee the ethics of the voting members. He said this committee would be composed of reputable and experienced figures in finance, business, culture and politics as well as sports, and would thereby shore up the sagging credibility of the world’s foremost football authority.
Possibly the most serious blow to the Association’s image is the suspicion that all of Qatar’s magnificent promises regarding new infrastructure, new stadiums, and carbon-free air-conditioning may have been a smokescreen. It has become apparent that a change in the timing of the World Cup was already on the table before the final votes were counted.