The World Cup to be held in Brazil next summer promises to be a great spectacle. After all, Brazil is a nation where soccer is not just a game but a way of life.
I’m also optimistic about the 2018 World Cup in Russian. While Russia isn’t a place we would normally associate with soccer, it has a strong team with a decent amount of history on the world stage, even dating back to its days as the Soviet Union.
That brings us to the 2022 World Cup, which will be held in Qatar. Yes, Qatar — a nation rather well known in the soccer world for its rich oil sheikhs who have recently purchased teams like Paris Saint-Germain and Malaga. Plus, Qatar Airways is seen on the front of the jersey of one of the world’s best teams in FC Barcelona. But their actual history in playing the game is basically nonexistent.
In the aftermath of the announcement made in December 2010, allegations started flying around that Qatari officials had bribed some members of the voting committee to spin the vote their way rather than vote for the U.S.’s runner-up bid. Mohammed bin Hammam, who helped secure Qatar’s bid and was running for president of FIFA — soccer’s international governing body — in 2011, was forced to withdraw from that race amidst allegations of bribery of his own.
How on Earth would you expect a country as small as Qatar, with no real standing in the world’s most popular sport, to be given the honor of hosting the world’s biggest sporting event outside of the Olympics? They certainly “earned” it, though not the way the U.S. — which hosted the 1994 World Cup — would have had if its bid won out.
But now that the plan is somewhat shakily set in stone to have Qatar host the 2022 World Cup, the process of actually preparing for that spectacle comes under the spotlight. And in this situation, there are a couple of key talking points to consider.
First up is the weather. Qatar, located on the Arabian Peninsula east of Africa, is basically nothing but desert. The competition is held throughout June and into July, the peak of summer. With summer temperature averages easily eclipsing 100 degrees, it is hard to see a feasible way to host athletes and fans in these conditions over a month-long period.
As such, the idea of a winter World Cup has been kicked around in some circles. However, even that isn’t such a great idea due to the massive sporting schedule that it would coincide with. Notably, World Cup years are also years in which the Winter Olympics are held. Competing for international attention, especially given the controversy surrounding Qatar at this point, might not be the wisest idea.
Additionally, the schedules of most major European soccer leagues run from August to May, with some countries also taking a few weeks for a winter break in between. While it may seem reasonable to try to fit it into this period, note that these winter breaks typically start in December — meaning the 2022 World Cup might start in 2021 — and not all leagues actually take a break of this nature. Interrupting schedules like that could be a disaster, leading to either shoving games in to fit a set schedule or shortening the offseason, both of which will negatively affect the players.
Another big controversy with Qatar’s World Cup plans is the revelation that there is evidence of slave labor taking place in stadium construction sites. Investigative reports led by British newspaper The Guardian revealed that a large number of Nepalese migrants working in World Cup construction sites have died due to the abysmal treatment they received. This includes the denial of drinking water, which is a horribly cruel thing to do when people are working extremely hard in weather like Qatar’s.
That Qatari officials are seemingly resorting to such drastic, brutal measures is perhaps indicative of their desperation to make this situation seem legitimate. Given the aforementioned lack of soccer background, their bid has come under intense scrutiny from the get-go, so they’re likely just trying to get the ball rolling quickly to put out a wonderful product. But doing it in this way puts a black eye on the world’s biggest soccer stage.
With nearly nine years left to go until this World Cup is scheduled to take place, there are far more questions than answers in Qatar. Did the Arabian nation really earn the right with their bid or did they “earn” it through other means? Will the harsh weather conditions in the Middle East leave us with a winter World Cup, forcing the hands of FIFA and many top European leagues? Are workers being forced into unethical working conditions?
These questions need to be answered sooner, not later. Otherwise, FIFA needs to force Qatar to give up the right to host and give it to the U.S. or fellow bidders like Australia, South Korea or Japan — which co-hosted the 2002 World Cup.
