Updated on June 9 to include official statement from FIFA
Fueling uncertainty about the locations of the next two World Cups, a senior FIFA official has said that the organization could consider moving the 2018 and 2022 tournaments out of Russia and Qatar if evidence of wrongdoing during the bid process turns up.
In an interview with Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung that was published today, the independent chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee said, according to Reuters:
“If evidence should emerge that the awards to Qatar and Russia only came about thanks to bought votes, then the awards could be invalidated. This evidence has not yet been brought forth.”
Domenico Scala’s remarks – which come as Swiss officials investigate both Qatar and Russia’s bids – suggest that the Gulf country’s right to host the football tournament isn’t as secure as officials here have asserted.
However, on Monday FIFA issued an official statement saying it has no legal grounds to strip either country of their hosting rights. CNN reports the organization as saying:
“Russia and Qatar were awarded the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups by democratic vote of the Executive Committee. Based on expert opinions and available facts, FIFA has no legal grounds to take away the hosting of the FIFA World Cup from Russia and Qatar.”
Still, FIFA did not address if this would remain the case if evidence of corruption surfaces, saying only, “We will not speculate on possible scenarios and therefore have no further comments for the time being.”
Where Qatar stands
Qatar has consistently denied any wrongdoing when it comes to bidding for the World Cup.
Last week, the country’s foreign minister said there was “no way” that the 2022 tournament would be moved to another country.
In recent years, many football fans – In recent years, many football fans – as well as a US senator and the head of the English Football Association – have suggested Qatar be stripped of the tournament amid bribery allegations and criticism of the Gulf state’s human rights records.
Few, however, actually exert any influence over where the World Cup is held.
Scala’s remarks mark the first time that a senior FIFA executive has commented on the issue since last month’s scandal involving the arrest of several football officials on racketeering and fraud charges and President Sepp Blatter’s abrupt resignation last week.
But last year, FIFA’s vice-president Jim Boyce said in a radio interview that he’d have “no problem” re-running the vote for the 2022 World Cup hosting rights if that was the recommendation of FIFA’s then-ethics chief, Michael Garcia.
“If Garcia comes up with concrete evidence … then it has to be looked at very seriously at that time,” Boyce told the BBC.
A summary of Garcia’s report suggested misdeeds occurred during the bidding process for both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, but that there was insufficient evidence to discredit the overall process.
However, Garcia said the summary released by FIFA misrepresented his investigation. He later resigned from his position.
Potential impact
While losing the tournament would be symbolically embarrassing for Qatar, it would unlikely have a major impact on the country’s economy, some experts said.
At the moment, work on most of the would-be World Cup stadiums is only in the preliminary stages.
And apart from the venues themselves, many of the country’s major development projects -such as the Doha Metro – are likely to continue, albeit at a slower pace.
“The infrastructure projects will happen at some stage anyway. But without this event, there isn’t the motivation to get them done quickly,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sonia Baldeira was quoted as saying.
Thoughts?
More racists.. grrr!
Yes where were they though in 2002 and 2010? Didn’t they realize those people were yellow and black?
FIFA rules now mandate the rotation of the games around the world.
Yalla expats pack your bags… Hopefully we won’t need this many of you anymore
Evil! But I understand your point and totally agree. I would have had the same opinion if I were Qatari 🙂
Can you arrange an exit permit for me? My employer won’t let me go! : )
shame on you for not reading the fine print
Of which version of the meaningless contract?
Best comment of the day.
There would have been no “meaningless contract” in the first place if they didn’t let greed blind them from prudence and research.
enjoy it!
Lols!
Qatar will always need Expats to supervise the locals. There’s a reason Hamad Med employs western Paramedics, Doctors and clinical management staff. Why Civil Defence are trained at the Fire service college in England. Why a VP of Qatar Airways is German, and the Pilots from the US, UK and Australia. Why management in the Oil & Gas sector are hoovered up from the wells of Texas and the offshore rigs of Aberdeen. If you were left to organise things for yourselves the country would turn into a scene from Mad Max.
Fans with paid for tickets have been locked out of the Emiri Cup final multiple times. I’ve seen Lekhwiya Riot Police at matches tooled up to disperse the crowds of people absurdly locked outside. How do you think such a situation would be thought of if it was a 2022 WC match?
Look at the Villaggio trial. Defendants charged with Homicide allowed to delay the proceedings on the grounds that they were on holiday.
The contract of every Expat may say “Teacher”, “Engineer”, “CEO” or whatever in the title but really it should say Damage Control Consultant.
i enjoyed mad max and believe it would make for a very interesting place to live… like i said not many of you but you defiantly… you and your family and your friends and their friends… not all of you just you lot… bye bye 🙂
Defiantly?
hehehe touche
touché
Indeed Qatar will depend on expats for a long time in the future, however let’s not get ahead of ourselves and class every foreigner in Qatar as being of the category saving this place from descending into a “scene from Mad Max”, if anything, the fact that you would suggest such an event would occur should all the expats depart, reveals just how much faith you have in the locals abilities to do things competently, and I agree with you, and this failure to be competent also extends to the hiring of foreign “professionals”, who do contribute just as much to the “Mad Max” type events.
Let us not pretend that Qatar is recruiting A level (or even C level in most cases) talent for its projects…
lol, you funny. You’d all die of thirst not knowing how to work the water tap.
it’s ok desertcard I know your joking and you don’t mean to be foul mouthed …
You know I like my job and the people I work with (not one local) but the day I leave I will most likely flip the bird and shout a big FUQ because of the attitudes and actions of the local pop you seem to represent and defend.
Well wipe our tears away and blow our noses with 500 riyals bills as you leave … Yalla go brush up on that resume … Don’t forget to put it did half he work I was suppose for twice the pay… And avoided paying all my taxes by not claiming my allowances, housing, school assistance and travel allowances
I work extremely hard for not much more money than home although I do get overpriced housing paid as a bonus which I pay taxes on since it’s considered income. And no I pay all my taxes as I’m required by law to claim everything and the IRS knows exactly what I get. And I paid cash for my house thus have no mortgage.
If you did go back, would you keep the finger up for your arrival to the US for milking the middle class dry in order to create a military empire at the expense of current and future generations? Not even being funny, just wondering how it feels or if it registers.
I guess we have to protect ourselves against extremist who brought the fight to our shores.
You mean the ones you once armed and trained right?
Your FUQ will be small compared to our F-OFF you and all Doha hating Qatar bashing expats .. Hope your mortgage back home is paid off before your shipped out you disposable sorry excuse of a person
I detect anger and something vaguely like a rude word
Well it’s good that you and your opinions are valued by us as much as the contents of a toilet bowl. What you do on your departure is irrelevant to us, because all we hear in the end is a “flush”.
That picture now in my mind is so appropriate for this place. Thank you
But who’s going to bring you the goat and hold the teat (NOT T!T) for you?
boy man you’re on fire.. I try to say something nice and u say I should suck I a goats teat… Uncalled for ..
No you said you were and I was just telling you an animal has teats not t!ts.
Huh ?!?
you must have deleted your goat sucking comment which I was replying to.
no idea what your talking about.. but i do believe it was uncalled for saying i should hold a goat teat… there’s a thin line between having fun and actually coming off as really racist..
I like goats. What’s the problem?
ma’am you replied to my dying of thirst comment with sucking a goats t!t and I responded they have teats not t!ts. You made the racist joke on yourself. then obviously thought differently about it and deleted. Now bye Felecia.
A_qtr • 4 hours ago
no worries we’ll suck milk from the goats t!ts… while i wave good bye to your unemployed behind 🙂
He certainly did. But surely you know that – even when he’s wrong – he’s never wrong. And, on those few occasions when he really is wrong – well, see rule 1. above.
*you’re
Gentlemen…. please.
He didn’t say all of you, just the disposable trash like yourself.
Deleting for stereotyping.
Tell you what we’ll all leave tomorrow. I assume also you don’t need your Metro, or Lusail City, or the host of other projects that can only be built with expat help.
Make sure your exit permit is in hand before leaving… And make sure you have an NOC letter in case you have a change of heart and want to return when you discover back home your expected to do actual work
Not my fault my employer hasn’t a clue how to use me. I’ve told him often enough and he still doesn’t get it.
and please don’t leave your adopted pets behind… you stingy b@stards..
LOL!!!
They’d get eaten.
Thats very good.
I guess I had read some new law in Qatar that says abusing others on web public forums and social media can land you in jail? Well I guess bashing is enough and the moderators are just waiting fr what??? All are equal. As an expat in Qatar, I think it is really important to support Qatar. Now that it has been awarded, let them host it with all support. Even though we can easily get jobs and better things from neighboring GCC countries, it is not always a practical solution to jump between jobs especially if you have families.
whos abusing who ? that should be the question.
& we can easily get jobs , as a blue collar yes , other than that in these times i doubt it.
Maybe the story is different for experienced and qualified expats who were working in the other GCC countries on white collar jobs, before landing here. I dont think the HR people from those countries are crazy to spend money and call the people in Qatar for job positions in good firms. Just check the forums of Qatar Living and you can see some posts of people on leaving Qatar for better jobs.
the region is going throw budget limit policy due the oil prices , expat leaving Qatar because there not needed any more.. i know that because i know few ppl in HR at QP/RG
Budget limit policy is fine as long as the HR of the firms are smart enough to retain talented and experienced staff over WASTAS pressures. Most of the companies have managers who are incapable on that positions. Bringing in an external consultant and evaluating the company strategic goals against the existing staff will result in the best restructuring.
Deleting for irrelevance..
again?!
You won’t need as many expats once your human capital are competent enough to replace them. Until then it is inevitable that the country will still require foreign human capital to operate the various technical aspects within the country.
It would be embarrassing indeed but it would be the right decision overall to remove the World Cup from Qatar. The event would be a culture shock and the roads and available accommodation are not capable of handling the influx of people.
I doubt there will be any improvements to the working conditions of the Laborers, as mentioned, the metro will still have to be built eventually. This is all very exciting though, the scandal the anticipation. I almost feel like I need a bowl of popcorn when I read the news.
You don’t see the irony in that? Corruption is not sustainable, and for some reason now has been the time to call time on FIFA’s corruption; casting a revote as the right thing to do, is punishing people for playing by the existing rules at the time, right or wrong, whatever they may be, it seems like a bit of a red herring, the obvious place to focus attention while FIFA cleans house, demonstrates some transparency, apologises and continues in its form. Now the irony of your comment, seems to be that removing the WC from Q & R is the right thing, because they are accountable for the corruption. The labor issue, again you presume accountability on Qatar for the corruption of the system, rather than the companies that violate the rules; to anticipate the lack of enforcement comments; the debate on here rages about freedom of speech etc, and suddenly we need enforcement to play by the rules, speaks a lot about how humans behave when given their freedoms?
But seriiously, if they do a revote, is that something that can just get tied up in litigation for years and years?
What influx of people? Qatar’s not planning for any fans to turn up. WC2022 is for the Qatari, 5* VIP’s from abroad, and resident expats only.
here’s a 500 riyal bill for telling a funny joke.. go buy something nice
85% or so of the people here come from under development counties.. thus you feel rich?? And if so, please..you can do better.
What’s an under development county?
pardon: typo. “Underdeveloped”
What’s an underdeveloped county
underdeveloped: adjective
not fully developed.
(of a country or region) not advanced economically.
aka developing countries
It’s ok, you made your point: you have 500 riyal bills.
I think his point is use of the word “county”
I think his point is that he doesn’t know how to react thus comments on an obvious typo.
here for you 🙂
* hugs*
nice to meet you 🙂
Wasn’t that obvious – I had to check with my mum.
you mean an underdeveloped country…. i give you a “has potential” grade 🙂
I give you a “it’s ok, he’s going back” grade 🙂
It’s like when your school report says “has potential”
LOL! Good one.
Deleting for irrelevance.
If you want to discuss labour problems discuss labour problems but don’t attack a country for opening its doors to people from developing countries. There will always be people who want to move to try and better their lives. Would you feel better if they were dying on capsized boats as they tried to get in?
Opening it’s doors? Don’t you mean trap doors given that once you’re in..
The very first line mentions labour problems but Paul is of the opinion that even just having a large group of people from developing countries is a problem.
Spirit, you didn’t get my point at all. It is in reply to A_qtr’s comment on waiving his 500 riyal bills. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the influx of productive people from any origin. My point relates to the feeling of “richness” of some because of the relative average lower living standards here. Or otherwise said, it’s easy to be fooled into the dream of succes when you have nannies, drivers, pick up trucks, etc surrounding you when you’re driving a fancy car and earning an decent salary. But decent salary doesn’t make rich and the same person in a developed area suddenly doesn’t stand out any more. The arrogance is therefore not justified and if indeed the person is seriously successful, then arrogance is still unwarranted as there is such thing as class and being humble. Going jogging now..
Actually, most Qataris would feel they stand out abroad when compared to being in Doha where they have to “compete” with other Qataris.
LOL @ the arrogance being unwarranted, I am sure Bill Gates and Steve Jobs when he was alive would have loved to hear your thoughts on that… and FYI, very successful people are not always like how they appear on the TV screen when they say some motivational crap to gullible viewers like yourself, they can in reality be as “humble” as some men’s “niceness” when it comes to interacting with more attractive women…
You mean ‘other’ developing countries, right?
€500 bill preferred if you could…
I’m a poor Qatari.. you befriended the wrong qatari i’m afraid…
The things I’ll do for money…
They’ll be reserved for the locals but they won’t show up and they’ll bus in blue jumpsuits guys fro the IA.
Deleting this thread for devolving.
VVIPs
As long as the stadiums are full, doesnt matter if its 5 star or 3 star.
It’s not that embarrassing – these are grown ups we’re talking about – not school kids
“While losing the tournament would be symbolically embarrassing for Qatar, it would unlikely have a major impact on the country’s economy, some experts said.”
Last year an American Financial Institute report said it would cost $16b.
Who are the “experts”? Considering that the event is very much anticipated upon, it is very counter-intuitive to assume that it will not bring a major impact on the economy, at least in the short run.
Golly, even the independent chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee is racist. What other possible explanations could there be for his deplorable comments?????
I have one, that FIFA has been run by a bunch corrupt European fat cats who created rules so that developing countries like South Africa Russia and Qatar can only win to host through paying them off…
Actually the present voting structure and the globalised hosting rights rule work for more countries. However, there have been those (no surprise Europeans) pushing for the voting structure to change. They want a FIFA that is run like the IMF or World Bank where Europe and the U.S. call all the shots.
Fu@! them
Always the insightful comments
Deleting for inappropriateness.
there are a lot of syllables in that word
but what does it actually mean?
rather too many than being monosyllabic…
Not only developing countries by the sound of it…
Assuming then it was a fair vote – can’t remember where Qatar’s bid came in the FIFA ratings – give me all the reasons for playing a WC in summer in Qatar.
It’d be a right laugh. Is that a good enough reason?
Should “right” not be “reet”?
Don’t forget all the Arabs, Asians, Africans and Americans.
Agree
From what I can see, the corruption in FIFA is spread quite nicely across all continents and ethnic groups.
Ahhhh, come on! Qatar got its 2022 World Cup the same way Russia (2018), South Africa (2010), Brazil (2014) and Germany (2006) got it. They all had to “invest” to get. It’s not like you get a World Cup awarded by the FIFA. Did you ever get a 911 awarded by the Porsche dealer?! I’m just tired of these people that want the World Cup taken away from Russia and Qatar. Where do you want to host it then? England?!?!?! Not that we did not already have a World Cup there… And when it comes to the working conditions, political stuff etc. I wish the press and all the rights unions would’ve been that active with Argentina 1978. That was a nightmare and compared to that Russia and Qatar are flawless. The problem is not Russia or Qatar – the problem is the FIFA. The gulf region deserves a World Cup, because along with Oceania it is the only region that never had one.
You forgot France 1998 and US (Copa America) 2016.
England don’t want it and America probably doesn’t care. Australia?
The U.S. doesn’t care, but would probably take it if offered. The US bid was based on using existing American football stadiums and was the only bid in which FIFA would turn a profit.
Whittingdale, UK Secretary of Sport, would disagree with you.
nationalistic pollys usually do – How could you have it there if the FA don’t want it? Chaos..
Really funny hahahaha “ENGLAND DON’T WANT IT” …… u made my day 🙂 best joke i have heard in along long time.
They, together with USA & other jealous surrounding GCC countries are the main instigators & neither England nor USA will get it in the next 3 decades.
Not accusing you of anything but there a lot of paranoid people with regards to this issue. I am sure there are plenty of people who want it in england but the chairman of the FA has already said they don’t want it and it would be counter-productive to have it there. The newspapers in the UK are definitely out to sell papers with any scandal they can use and FIFA is a big scandal. Anyway England already have some of the best football in the world there every season. Why would they want a one off tournament based simply on nationalism? With regard to other GCC countries, they should be involved. Running it out of the Emirates with a few games in Qatar would have worked pretty well. The USA don’t really give a toss about the World Cup. Sure there are plenty of people who like “soccer” there but there are plenty more (i.e. nearly all) who have never heard of Qatar and really don’t care what happens in this part or the world – or even know where it is. I would agree though that England and the US are not going to get it for decades more either and neither should they as it is a “world” cup. That doesn’t mean though that it should go to the highest illicit bidder. Remember Qatar came dead last – yes LAST – of the bidders assessed. Only a lunatic or a crazy old man who loves hard cash would then ensure it was awarded to Qatar. BTW the campaign is against corruption an immoral labor laws – not “against Qatar” – and it isn’t being run out of the Northern hemisphere at all. You need to look much further afield. And while I am ranting don’t give me any crazy talk about racism – What race are people in Japan & Korea (2002) & South Africa (2010)?
totally agree with your point .
it’s the voices – it’s the voices – they told me – they did!
You got it.FIFA is the problem.If you go back to 2006,then what happens about those? If they start taking away Russia and Qatar-there will be lawsuits and compensation.If they question the previousWC’s,then all thats left is either Brazil might sue FIFA for money they spent/whats in the record books can be questioned and FIFA will just disappear and go Bankrupt(maybe not a bad idea).
The only lawsuits would be if they proved the bidding process was corrupted by the winning countries. The losers could sue FIFA. If either Qatar or Russia are proven to have provided bribes that resulted in a rigged voting result, they would not have grounds for a lawsuit. The key is that is not enough to prove bribery; they would have to prove that the bribery resulted in a different outcome.
Yes,and if Qatar has invested huge amounts of money on infrastructure under false pretences,I am sure they would have a vested interest in staunchly defending the bid,even if some wrong doing could be proven.I just think the whole mess would be so huge.Would it still not revert to FIFA for allowing it as opposed to bidders who were given an opportunity to pay for influence.
I certainly don’t think either Russia or Qatar would give it up with a fight (although ‘fight’ means very different things in these two countries). I’m sure somewhere in the bidding rules it says that bribery not allowed. Typically, if someone offers a bribe (and it is accepted), both parties are punished.
The Champions League is classes better than the World Cup. What a game it was yesterday!
How much would it cost to buy that?
Nothing to buy there. The games are played at the clubs’ premises. The final isn’t needing much infrastructure. One stadium is enough.
I’m sure if we paid enough.
Can’t we pass the hat around?
Odd first time I agree with u
I humbly disagree. Nothing better than playing for the honor of your country. But just my opinion.
Probably depends on your country..
I would say no matter what country I would be from the honor of representing it would be paramount. For the club teams they’re mostly mercenaries for the highest bidder meaning the ManUs, Bayern’s, Madrids, Barcelonas etc of the world control the club circuit. Although that mercenary thinking IS operating for this nations sports teams to little effect.
You’re dreaming mate – there’s plenty of people who know their own countries aren’t even worth kicking a ball for let alone chasing it
Like I said it’s just my opinion. When I was a child I thought nothing better than representing my country at the olympics. When I became a university soccer player I had dreams of representing my country at the WC. But to qualify my statements I do come from a powerful sports nation. So my views probably ARE tainted.
Oh god – not another nationalist
Why is being proud of your country a bad thing? Are you not proud of where you’re from?
1. Ask Adolf 2. How would you define that? Passport/s? Place of birth? Ancestry? Ethnicity? This year’s borders? Last year’s borders?
Foreign policy? Sporting prowess? Military might? Nobel prizes? Position of women? Take your pick.
what do any of these have to do with being proud of what country you’re from?
When it is in fact just a few misfiring brain cells – confused by bright colors, flags and nationalistic music – cue (was “queue”) the marseillaise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTsg9i6lvqU
So shabina all the above is not irrelevant … !?! But when its me posting it’s irrelevant
How do you figure that out? Isn’t nationalism a core part of the problem?
Stop using dbl negatives. Learn you speak da english.
cue
LOL – good point – where is my morning coffee….
That’s an ignorant statement. Ask Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, Anwar Sadat, Winston Churchill….
How do you get from a person dreaming of representing his country in sports to Hitler?
And I think we all made it through primary school and know what a country is by now. YOU can define it however you like. But you’re just being nonsensically argumentative.
And I ask again…are you not proud of where you’re from? If so does that make you Hitler like?
Oh where to start…
Reem is right. A country, or a nation, is an idea. And the nation only lives in the heart of people. It doesn’t exist anywhere else. The country doesn’t need a flag, nor an anthem. The people need that to cling to. Otherwise soil is soil, water is water, and air is air, anywhere on this planet.
Usually you make sense but now…???
Such esoteric bs makes no sense. I love my country and many family and friends have died to defend that “idea”. The flag and anthem represent that “idea”. I hold them all in deep regard.
Wow…you really are that retarded.
Yup
Nature does not follow man-made boundaries, yet we seem inordinately preoccupied with staking our claim to bits of ground….
Are you egyptian??
That’s not relevant to the conversation, him being a dumb a$$ is though…
So at least be clever. You’ve called me a dumba$$, another person a retarded weasel, and so it goes. And you talk about the expats tone?
Who cares? Countries are made up ideas. A country is abstract, not real. They are only systems of organization . We’re all on this planet together. Games to play are only that.
And if Qatar lost the hosting for the WC it would be good for Qatar . It could concentrate investing in real things instead of show off stuff.
The smartest comment I’ve ever read on DN
But the “nationalists” will never agree. Their identity revolves around it.
And what is your identity?
Yep idiots
I usually agree with much of what you say but MIMH do you believe in anything?
No God, no country…
Sounds lonely.
No not lonely, the universe is a wonderous place, so much to discover, so much to learn. Just being a decent human being has it rewards
Good for the country or the abstract BS you talk about?
It’s not BS if you actually understood it…
Deleting for attack and subsequent thread for getting off track.
lol.. A country is abstract?
Not so sure about that.. countries are owned by governments and governments are anything but abstract dear. Ever since mankind was created, it strived for power and your dreamy words can never stop that 🙂
Gov. does not own the country. Look up the meaning.
And that is how they control you
Thousands of years of human history argues against this. All sounds nice and wonderful, but the reality is that people luce on land and land has resources and those resources have value. We invent things like government or theological idealism to exploit people to gather and collect those resources. People following along under the premise you state were once deemed useful idiots by the former communist states. People that blindly believe in ideals that do not reflect the reality of human experience and the ingrained genetic disposition to gain power and dominion.
Yeah – you don’t see Singapore hanging out for a world cup and they seem to have sorted out a few more important things
not enough room for the both of us… i called it first
You win
So you’re obviously proud of where you’re from. I commend that. Does that make you something Hitler like?
Deleting rest of thread for getting off track.
All this deleting is getting seriously confusing. Can’t people just be left to figure out whether it is on track for themselves? Also sometimes things are being deleted that if you think a bit laterally they are actually very relevant – just not at first read…
I humbly disagree. I want to see high class soccer. I don’t care what country a team is from. I love sports and I don’t understand nationalism or patriotism.
He is not talking about honor and patriotism. He is talking about level of class. National teams play ugly football compared to club teams, simply because of the level of understanding and chemistry between players.
No because they are all star teams of sorts. A country doesn’t have that level across the board. Hey it’s each to his own. I find playing for your country honorable and I bet if you asked the players they’d say the same thing. Not asking you to agree.
It is not about agreeing or not. From a neutral’s spectator’s perspective, they want to see the best football class regardless who the 2 teams are. This is why women football will never have as much coverage or fanbase. It is not sexism, it is because spectators love to see the best demonstration of the game. Most national teams do not get the time to blend all their ranks and make them as harmonic as club teams, simply because of the time constraints to fulfil their club/national team duties.
So the WC TV numbers mean nothing? So you think that more fans tuned in to last nights game than the German-Argentine final? And there WAS some beautiful soccer played in the WC.
You keep mixing things up. Before you were mixing up between patriotism and fan expectation and now you are jumping to comparing fan numbers per event?
During world-cup games, spectators are hardly summed up by the fans who cheer for their national teams. This is a once every 4 year event that billions watch as part of a cultural tradition. Football WC & Club championships are like NBA and World cup in Basketball. Everyone knows that NBA games are nicer to watch than a game between USA and Serbia…
That makes little sense as players from the same country would have better chemistry. Brazilians, Germans, Italians, Brits, Spaniards…all play distinctly different styles of football. it would be harder to meld them together on an international club level. The so called ugly national side football would be because of the numbers of superstars available per country.
Exactly. Besides if they really want to popularize and promote football, then FIFA should consider hosting the world cup in countries like Indonesia, Nigeria, India or maybe even Bangla Desh
Isn’t there now a story that Morocco actually won the bidding for 2010?
If FIFA was motivated by exploring new territories rather than cashing cheques, wouldn’t they have been the hosts?
Bangladesh. One word.
None of those nations mentioned will have any interest in spending billions to host the world cup. The ROI is very low and most world cups are loss making.
Football is more popular in Nigeria than most countries in Europe, Nigeria is an Africa Powerhouse when it comes to football so it’s wrong to lump them up with indonesia and bangladesh.
A corrupt ‘powerhouse’
Nigeria is a joke of a country. Indonesia is relatively fine. Bangladesh is too poor to organize a WC. Of all the names he mentioned only India deserves it, but then India doesn’t really care that much about football, as their favorite sport is cricket.
Nigeria has hosted the world youth soccer championship, All african Games and African nations cup. They won the Atlanta 1996 olympics Gold in football defeating Brazil and Argentina. So in terms of football popularity, I don’t think they’re doing bad at all.
We are talking organization not football. Football is popular in many African countries but only a handful can organize such a big event. Nigeria is a joke from a political and economic point of view.
Hardly economical: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)
1st in Africa for GDP (South Africa’s GDP is incorrect I think, only about 350 billion $)
23rd worldwide: http://knoema.com/nwnfkne/world-gdp-ranking-2015-data-and-charts
(edit) PS: I wasn’t considering corruption, btw.
Yes and there is this one too
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21652306-fuel-crisis-nigeria-highlights-desperate-need-subsidy-reform-problems?zid=304&ah=e5690753dc78ce91909083042ad12e30
And Boko Haram and corruption etc. Honeslty even suggesting that Nigeria organizes the WC is ridiculous. In all Africa only South Africa can host it. Morocoo can do it but it will be very stretched financially.
Same as above.
Deleting for calling a country a joke.
Nigeria would be the most proper, so also the team of Boko Haram can play….fair play!
Horses for courses methinks… IPL is great cricket, but Tests are great too; Super15 is awesome, but so is Currie Cup, Heineken Cup, Six Nations and World Cup (All Blacks vs Springboks vs Wallabies – rest are just trying to keep up 😉 ). Not a football fan, but yes given the money in football, Club level is often higher / better than National Squad level.
It’s so nice to read the comments and all the attacks. I have my huge bowl of popcorn here. Got to read everything before Shabina deletes all the comments for personal attacks and stereotyping.
Oh she’s reading but giving everyone their space to get the comments up the clicks going and the $ spinning… She’s like the puppet master …
Knocking down a souq.. School closure .. Whale sharks all didn’t generate interest .. It was either this or villagio …
Here’s a topic Shabi shabi… Expats queing for alcohol at QDC… before the end of days.. I mean Ramadan
I se lots of Qs at the doors as well.
True Qs would not want to be seen there, they’d get theirs delivered.
Ain’t she great ☺
Good idea, do a story about the expats queuing at QDC and make sure to get some pictures of the only place in Qatar where people queue properly and nobody is trying to push to the front.
That’s rich.. A lesson in civility from an Australian
on civility.
Indeed, colonists always negotiated civilly amongst themselves how they would divvy up and pillage others territory. I guess this order is just one of the remnants of that era.
Stupid comment with no basis in reality. You were colonised, get over it.
Actually we were never colonized you retarded weasel.
umm yes you were
Deleting for trolling, and subsequent off-thread track.
Shu had …. Are you serious? It can not happen …
If I can add a bit of something to lighten the mood – remembering that FIFA paid The Republic of Ireland some £3m as “compensation” for not reaching the WC finals due to Thierry Henry’s handball (twice), at todays Ireland England friendly the English fans were singing “Sepp Blatter he paid for your ground”. funny.
GBP?