Ever since the announcement back in 2010, the decision to award Qatar with the privilege of hosting the 2022 World Cup has been an area of debate with many agreeing that it doesn’t make a great deal of sense. Traditionally, the world cup has always been held during the months of June and July, the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere. The typical temperature in Qatar during that time of year reaches 50°C, making it uncomfortable at best for spectators, not to mention the players. The lack of alcohol on sale has also raised concerns amongst fans, as the tournament is considered a time of celebration, during which many like to enjoy a drink as part of the entertainment. These combining factors along with much more important human-rights issues such as the fact that homosexuality is illegal and allegations of what is essentially slave labour used in the construction of the stadiums, has resulted in a large percentage of fans stating they will not be attending a world cup held in Qatar.
Seth Blatter, president of FIFA, up until his recent and unexpected resignation, of course defended the decision to award the world cup to Qatar. He argued that the Arab countries deserved the opportunity to host the tournament and that it could be used as an opportunity to bridge the gap between the Arab and the western world. However, recent developments leading to Blatters ‘resignation’ have led many to question the integrity of his words, as it is likely that there were other influencing and significantly more ‘valuable’ factors in the decision making process, about which he conveniently knows nothing.
Rumours and allegations of corruption and bribery have long since marred the idea of a world cup staged in Qatar and the recent FBI investigation and arrests suggest that those rumours weren’t without substance. The question now is whether or not Qatar will remain hosts of the event or whether a revote will be deemed necessary. The question is proving to be a popular area of debate, particularly amongst sports betters, gambling sites and casinos. After the announcement of Blatters resignation, bookies slashed the odds of the Qatari nation hosting, with William Hill offering 5/4, which has been shortened from the previous 5/1. Betting on football related topics is a large part of the fun and entertainment of the sport with sites such as saudicasinos.com providing plenty of gaming opportunities.
A whistleblower from the Qatari 2022 bid team, believes that in a final attempt to ‘save his own skin’ Seth Blatter himself may strip Qatar of the world cup. While it’s not a common occurrence for winning bidders to be stripped of their privilege to host sporting tournaments, this wouldn’t be the first time its happened. In 2011 Pakistan was stripped of their co-hosting rights for Cricket World Cup due to security concerns, while Iran was recently stripped and banned from hosting tournaments by the International Volleyball Federation as a result of illegalizing female sporting spectators. If Qatar does lose the world cup tournament, bookies favourites for the replacement hosts have the US as favourites at 1/1, followed by South Korea and Japan with odds of 9/4.
Hell, at the rate us Americans are killing each other, who’ll be alive in 2022 to see it? I’m really tired of the race war that continues to heat up – I hope people regain their senses. Sorry – just a rant unrelated to your topic. Soccer – not my bag, although my kid(s) like to watch it. Have worked briefly in Brazil; it’s scary to be a construction worker in those under-developed countries. You would be amazed at how they go about building stuff using unsafe practices. I can’t imagine how many people will die in Qatar during construction. And who would want to go to Qatar to watch it in those conditions when the big screen TV in my living room will show it to us anyway while I sip my beverage of choice in air-conditioned comfort?
Moose…
I barely want to go to a Buccaneers game in the 100 heat never mind travel across the world to see a sport nobody watches.
Oh wait, nobody watches the Bucs either.
50 C? The fuck?
…What’s next, we gonna start using the metric system for tape measure shots?
Sorry. Back to the topic…Oh, I forgot…The topic is Qatar and soccer.
Maybe Celsius is actually more interesting.
Look at the headlines today! Forget my earlier comment about Americans killing each other. Who would want to go to Qatar with the distinct possibility of getting blown up by Muslim terrorists? You gotta think that it’s in their minds already – what bigger stage could they find to show their hatred for other cultures.
I wonder if they’re gonna pull this thing from Qatar, Bleed.
I mean, how many people have already died in the construction of these arenas?
Does that mean they’ll have died in vain.
Pretty effed up story altogether, I’d say.
Do they even have strip clubs in Qatar, Moose?
I mean, come on. Where are our priorities? What are visitors supposed to do in their spare time?
Oh wait, sorry. That’s Tampa’s pitch for the next Super Bowl.
You’d have to tell me if I’m right or wrong, but the thought of Tampa in February with some Cuban girls in “come f**k me” outfits sounds a whole lot better than being halfway across the world wondering if you’d get killed for propositioning a woman whose body you can’t even see for the clothes they have on.
It is, Moose.
Considerably better.
Strip Qatar of the 2022 World Cup but not Russia staging it in 2018 ? Well that makes a lot of sense , doesn’t it ? Why not have the IOC look at their bidding practices when it comes to the Summer Olympics as well ?
What’s so bad about all these rotating sites for any / all tournaments, championships, Super Bowls, Etc is that everybody is taking bribes, kickbacks, favors, whatever you want to call them. Just call me cynical – the money is so big it’s inevitable. Hell, I take customers on chartered fishing trips, etc just for them giving my company regular business in the million dollar range. Imagine what you can get if you are talking multi-billion dollar business.
I think the one thing we can agree on, Al, is that it’s all a mess.
Not to mention, Moose, that the Super Bowl is basically awarded to a city that’s just dumped tens of millions on either building a new stadium or revamping it’s old one.
I get that it’s a one to two week bump into a local economy but does it come close to making up for the overall investment?
These power brokers with that much money don’t really care about the cash – it’s all about power / prestige
My prediction is they will proceed with the Russia Cup (will say it is too close to gametime to re-bid but just really don’t want to hiss off Russia) but definitely strip Qatar as a symbolic gesture of “making things right” (partially) from the scandal bribary standpoint. From a footballing-standpoint they could now leave it in mid-year to satisfy the desires of the various leagues who were looking at having their seasons interrupted if they moved it to Qatar’s winter…when the temps are only 100 degrees and not 200. It will also save some lives of those folks who are racing to build facilities in Qatar and apparently dying in the process. They can right several wrongs both symbolically and “physically” by splitting the difference here and leaving Russia alone and “punishing” the Qatar decision.
Moose…
Speaking of power and prestige, how about Donald Trump getting canned by NBC.
That must have been a fun board room meeting.
Burns…
Either way, I don’t see this having a happy ending.