FIFA's Arrogance Knows No Bounds

Not satisfied by devaluing the World Cup brand enough by awarding the right to host the tournament to a country with no discernible football history or even interest, members of the football hierarchy have gone one further by engaging in public debate about how it should go ahead.

Qatar won the right to host the 2022 edition of the tournament on the back of a glittering campaign, backed by a number of FIFA darlings and celebrities, boasting an unrivalled legacy and expensive air-conditioning systems. Those who once criticised the bid were found to have voted on its behalf, and the Arab state claimed a resounding victory over the likes of Australia and the US.

No sooner had the celebrations wilted, however, everybody’s favourite FIFA politician was involving himself in a very public debate of when the competition should be hosted. Blatter disappointed an entire region of air conditioning technicians by revealing his preference for a Winter tournament and, in the process, unwittingly revealed the true intentions of a Qatari World Cup.

Because, let’s face it, the prospect footballers collapsing with heat exhaustion isn’t the best PR in the lead up to a presidential election, but the very notion of a Gulf-state football legacy does. You’re instantly left with the thought that Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar 2022 chairman, could’ve floundered onto the podium, opened with a 20 minute diatribe about Jack Warner’s package holiday company before proposing death penalties for nations eliminated at the group stage and still Uncle Sepp would’ve awarded them the honour.

Platini’s admission that he’d favour a joint-bid, inviting neighbouring states to join the party, only further cheapens FIFA’s decision and it hasn’t taken long for football officials to announce their derision.

"I think if they are now talking about sharing it with other countries, I think it is very unfair to the United States, to Australia, all the other countries that were bidding at the same time," Iran manager Afshin Ghotbi said during the ongoing Asian Cup, currently underway in none other than Qatar, adding: "Now you are changing the landscape. My feeling is if they want to take a decision on that then they should go back to the bidding countries and ask them to bid again.”

And he’s exactly right. FIFA changing the goalposts isn’t much of an alien issue, but their grossly arrogant attempt to meddle with the Qatari bid, to mould into a shape their happy with, conveys an impression that the original bid wasn’t appealing, but the notion of a Middle-Eastern World Cup was one too romantic to ignore.