Just as much truth is said in jest there is also much truth in denial. Ever since FIFA President Sepp Blatter began to reiterate his faith in the choice of Qatar as the venue for the 2022 soccer World Cup with a special vehemence last year you got the feeling that in the back room the boys were beavering away at ensuring that the privilege would be rescinded. The only issue was how they would set about pulling the rug and a strategy had to be chiseled with maximum damage control.
And having spent weeks ducking the issue it would seem Blatter has opted for the gun to be fired from another’s shoulder. FIFA Executive Committee member Theo Zwanziger went on record earlier this week, and without warning, saying the whole charade was over and Qatar had lost the Cup despite its attempts to show that air-cooled stadiums would provide comfortable playing conditions in otherwise scorching conditions. There was a certain surge of affection from the FIFA rep for the wellbeing of the players and support crew and the thousands of fans who would ostensibly descend upon the tiny state and be broiled in the heat. One heat stroke victim could mean millions in damages and trigger a “suing stampede.”
So, what’s new? As a sports decision made on venues this will rank as one of the worst in the world. Nothing else even comes close to it. We have had pitches that end up calling off cricket matches (Sabina Park when the Windies were hosting the Aussies in 1978). There is the unplayable Rugby Sportsground oval in Newcastle generally believed to be incomparably frightful. And no one can deny the clumsy starts to major Games (India and the Commonwealth farce, Brazil and the fears that the World Cup soccer would be a shambles). But all these fade into mere minor infringements compared to this colossal blunder.
What part of “hot in summer in Qatar” did the FIFA mandarins not get? In May this year, Blatter unequivocally stated, “Of course, it was a mistake. You know, one comes across a lot of mistakes in life.”
Yes but there are consequences of such mistakes and you cannot just walk away from them and pretend they never happened.
The Qatar technical report indicated clearly that it is too hot in summer, but the executive committee with quite a big majority decided that the tournament would be in Qatar.
Technically, it still is since there is no official statement. As things officially stand it is Zwanziger’s personal assessment but who are we kidding. The slinking away has begun. While everyone will have a take on this issue at present it seems more like a test run intended to check out what the reaction will be in Doha and the world at large. Run it up the flagpole and see what happens.
You cannot see Qatar quietly letting go of the rope and surrendering the prerogative that it officially earned. The more the resistance from Qatar and the higher the bill it gives in penalty clauses and incurred costs plus legal fallout from contractual obligations the more chances there are that FIFA will employ the corruption charges that have been already bandied about as justification enough to walk away. A Sunday Times expose of financial records allegedly indicating that Mohamed bin Hammam, a Qatari billionaire, essentially bought the 2022 bid for Qatar, colluding with Russian officials in their 2018 World Cup bid as well has created a furor.
FIFA is now truly between a rock and a hard place and can only thank itself for this predicament. For now the best course would be to man up and make the dumping official and then face the music rather than dither about finding sanctuary in technical semantics. It is not edifying to break the ledge in such a shabby manner. Either Zwanziger speaks with the authority of FIFA behind him or he speaks out of line. If it is on his own initiative then he should be reprimanded.
That there will be heartburn and bad blood is a given. The ripple effect from the fallout is difficult to assess today but for the host country it is a matter of honor and they take honor very seriously. No one is going gently into this night.
