Agreed - but if all the best nations are involved in a Fifa tournament, then people will watch it (because, whilst a lot of people are not happy with the corruption in the awarding of the tournament, it’s not stopping them wanting to watch the matches), which in turn means advertisers will want to advertise to those eyeballs, so they’re not pulling out either. This is why my preferred options are the ones I outlined - a) pull out of the best nations (thus moving interest to the Year Zero World Cup and out of Fifa’s purview) or b) legal smashing of Fifa.
I’d love to see a legal smashing of Fifa, the more I think about it. Put them all in the dock. It would be brilliant - though I suspect rather a waste of legal time and money that could be put to better but much less high profile use.
I think the best thing for everyone is to let 2018 continue. The Russians know how to get bribes done, so there’s probably not much to find. And either way, they’re capable of hosting a decent World Cup. It’s entirely believable that they could have been the best option. With Qatar it’s another matter, and as time goes by their ability to host isn’t becoming any less questionable.
Bumping this, based on the release of FIFA’s “summary” of the Garcia report.
Well, well, what to say?
Russia seems incapable of backing up their work or accessing their Gmail accounts which seems strange.
England and Australia were totally open and of course are the main target of FIFA’s concerns
Spain and Portugal didn’t co-operate at all so escape any criticism.
No concerns with Qatar at all apparently, nothing to see here, move along.
Of course the biggest news is that
a) the full report is not going to be published…so how exactly can one judge if the criticisms are justified or not?
b) Michael Garcia has just commented on the summary of his report that was published by a judge (appointed by FIFA) and he says that it…
Which is pretty much a straightforward accusation that the summary is bollocks.
But hold…it is OK. he’ll get chance to voice his concerns to the FIFA appeals committee, this committee is appointed by the FIFA executive committee, the same committee that have have serious allegations hanging over them regarding the bidding process and who may well be mentioned in the full report…no conflict of interest there then!
This one will run and run, the Guardian are keeping on top of this nicely
At the end of the day,so bloody what. FIFA is a private organisation, as are many of the Football associations. The World Cup is a private affair. If the WC was given the Qatar and Russia because the FIFA executive liked their Hor Devours and call girls better than that of England, so bloody what? Its a private not a public event. Its not like England is going to boycott the competition. If you don’t like it, stay home and don’t watch.
Well that’s a view certainly, personally I think corruption does matter and if you don’t try to expose it and do something about it then it festers and spreads. Soon enough it’ll affect something that does matter to you.
Also, by only kinda following the story, Quatar’s heat poses a legitimate danger to Soccer’s players since a death has already happened there and the promises of air conditioning or whatever are assumed to not be held to
What a mystifying rant. I’d rather liken it to exercising our voice as consumers of football, much like those Sheffield United fans calling for their club not to sign Ched Evans.
A “rant”? Tell me, if the WC2022 is held in Qatar, are you not going to watch it? Yeah did’nt think so. The way to exercise your voice as consumers is not to partake in the event, making it commercially unviable. Of course that’s not going to happen and even if it does, it’s going to be limited to white, western fans, who are these days a small amount of the total anyway.
Or register your protests with the event’s sponsors and encourage them to let their wallets do the talking. I imagine FIFA would be much more inclined to listen to a pissed off Coca Cola or McDonald’s than Joe Blow from Leicester, not that those corporations would ever bother to do more than send a sternly worded letter.
At this point, I’m just hoping Garcia “accidentally” forgets a real copy of his report in Theo Zwanziger’s bathroom and then it mysteriously winds up in Der Spiegel. I know the report will change nothing about FIFA’s behavior because they don’t care, but I still want it leaked.
I refused to have any dealings with Coventry City when they moved to Northampton. I didn’t even follow their scores online. Just because you may not have willpower, or the courage of your own convictions, don’t assume that others don’t.
I’m sure that I’m late to the party, but now that the 2018 cup has passed, I figure we might have a better perspective.
Looks like despite it being a ludicrous idea FIFA has agreed to move the cup to begin in November. Leagues around the world are being pressured to push their winter breaks to match up with the Cup. I thought Qatar got the bid under the specific stipulation that this wouldn’t be necessary?
And so much for air conditioned stadiums, OR for “traditional” cooling techniques. Looks like they’re building at least some of the stadiums out of… shipping containers?
November is going to just be an awful time to stage a World Cup if you’re still trying to grow the game in the USA. The World Series will have just ended but college and pro football will be in full swing and the NHL and NBA will also be in season with college basketball getting underway also.
Plus, the weather in a lot of the USA won’t be conducive for outdoor watch parties.
Dumb, dumb, and just dumb. But, if they’re going to yank the cup from Qatar, it’s about time FIFA did so, those bribe checks have already cleared.