There is a lot of talk about the remarkable revelations coming out about FIFA and whether the 2022 World Cup was bought. Doh! Is anybody really that surprised at these suggestions?
It was a shock to most people when Quatar was awarded the prize of hosting the world cup as it seemed an unlikely place for it to be held but in the modern world we know how much money talks.
There doesn’t even need to be anything dishonest because the sponsors of major sports events have such power over where they occur and what form they take.
Sport is supposed to be about excellence and the money does help achieve that but it brings with it a whole raft of other problems. The accountants begin to take over the sport, taking decisions based on money, not on what is best for the fans or the sport itself in the long term.
Sports events like the World Cup or the Olympics have always been ‘bought’ but in the past they were bought on the basis of what was best for the sport, who could provide the best facilities and who would do most to benefit the sport for the future generations.
It may be that Quatar can do all of these things and do them well but there are several features of running a major football competition in a hot desert country where drinking alcohol is not generally permitted that make it seem a very surprising choice.
Rumours of corruption within the Fifa organization have been around for years. These complaints are not new but there does seem to be a growing recognition that all is not well and some major changes need to take place to demonstrate that deciding where the world cup is held is done entirely for the right reasons.
Unfortunately money talks and it talks louder than the fans of a sport but ultimately any sport depends on its fans and if they were not there the money would not be there either. It is a co-dependancy and both sides should have a voice in what and how significant decisions are made.
“Suspended Fifa vice-president Jack Warner has made public an e-mail that claims Mohamed Bin Hammam “bought” the 2022 World Cup finals for Qatar.” BBC Sport – Qatar’s Bin Hammam accused of buying 2022 World Cup.
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