If Chris from Sidcup is right about the African Nations Cup being scheduled for January 2023 then it would surely have to be Winter 21/22. The problem there is that the World Cup qualifiers (including play-offs) don't finish until the November before the World Cup, i.e. 7 Months in advance of the tournament starting in normal circumstances. In this case that wouldn't be practical, as the qualifiers would only finish a month before the actual tournament, so they would have to completely change the schedule for World Cup qualifiers (perhaps do them in blocks of 3 matches rather than the current 2 matches at a time, i.e. Friday evening followed by Tuesday evening!) as well as rescheduling the domestic season.
Don't worry, I'm sure FIFA have got a seamless plan to deal with all of these issues, we're just worrying over nothing!
coca cola don't need the tv sponsorship , its the ability to put fifa and world cup on their products and merchandise and also on posters etc, the adverts are good but the rate of sales in world cup promotions on pack or product far out weigh the impulse sales
any boycott needs to be by countries not fans,
and the only way to get that would be from fan/consumer/viewer pressure aimed at sponsors, broadcasters and FAs. But it would seem that there's no interest in doing anything so far.
I think that those who bid against Qatar should have the balls to try and reclaim some if not all of their spend, a country won the bid with something they couldn't deliver and therefore it should be re opened to another rd of voting with Qatar omitted
Look at Brazil they had 1 yr longer than any other country to get themselves together yet there will be stadiums not ready until 12-8 weeks before the tournament starts , this is potentially a disaster waiting to happen, that is no time to host and run games in trial of facility and evacuation,
I worked with several stadiums hosting stuff on the Olympics and every test event threw up an issue that needed resolving from faulty alarms to plumbing and environmental issues
it took months to fix these faults then you have the issues for the concourse vendors this world cup and Qatar are shambolic for Fifa
The main issue here is that FIFA have decided to do a u-turn and move it to winter. The Qatar 2022 committee actually want to host the world cup in summer, and have not requested to move it. Of course they are happy to be flexible and host it in winter though as it makes them look good. Its all about not losing face!
In my opinion Qatar is way too small to hold the world cup and it would work better if shared with one or more Gulf states, but that aint going to happen.
People really do underestimate how big things like the european champs the world cup the olympics and winter olympics really are and how much infastructure is needed
When you consider the amount of time given you think its easy surely you can deliver that but for countries like qatar trying to deliver with no real concept of large scale sporting events
And For brazil to try to do world cup and olympics is a real ask and is stretching their money and facilities to the max
its no wonder that their people are rioting in brazil
When you consider the amount of time given you think its easy surely you can deliver that but for countries like qatar trying to deliver with no real concept of large scale sporting events
The only large scale event that it has hosted is the Asian Games in 2006 which formed part of their plan/bid/evidence. Beyond that its just been individual events, recently some high profile olympic sports world champs like gymnastics, fencing etc
the Olympics they say is the biggest and from what I saw , and that was a fair deal with Locog and ODA meetings and involvement it was huge its so difficult to explain how huge,
then comes the world cup , it makes hosting a cup competition look easy apparently I did some stuff for coca cola during euro 96 and the coca cola cup and ensuring that just the corporate and sponsorship people get in safely on time etc was so difficult
you have to multiply just that bit by a couple of hundred times,
let alone building stadiums arranging transport infrastructure and security, hotels, increases in tourism and security
it sounds to me that Qatar will be very very very busy and now the whole eye of the world will be on them longer and earlier
Can see the US having a collective say in this. I imagine sponsors are all primarily US based, Coke, McDonalds, etc. They will not want to pump billions into a tournament that may not get the worldwide audience as if it was held in the summer when there is a lot less sport going on. US tv won't like it either, middle of NBA, NHL and last weeks of NFL so audiences over there will be small. Added to that US, came 2nd behind Qatar. Major football nations will back US if they decide to fight it.
With the US oil reserves approaching self-sufficiency, their reliance on Saudi oil is steadily becoming less acute, resulting in a shift of their Middle East policies. If oil becomes less attractive to the US, the ageing Saudi monarchs will struggle to cope with loss of revenue and various islamist upheavals and could well find themselves with a Syria-type civil war in their hands. The whole Arabian peninsula would be in turmoil, Qatar included. Staging the World Cup could become the least of their worries. Plan B, C or Given to the US, new vote, or why not England to organise it!! If this not-so-impossible scenario takes place, i'll expect you lot to offer me a jeroboam of rosé champagne. Chilled. That is, if i'm still around of course.
One of the ridiculous things about Qatar is how small it is.
With 'normal' bids for the World Cup, it is made clear that the games have to be spread around the country, hence the England bid in 2018 couldn't just be based in the existing large stadia in the main cities, but instead would have to be spread around the regions, so that the likes of Plymouth and MK Dons had plans to expand their grounds to hold WC games.
Then they award it to Qatar, a country half the size of Wales, with virtually all the stadia bunched together near the East coast, a tiny geographical area. similar to Greater London
One of the ridiculous things about Qatar is how small it is.
With 'normal' bids for the World Cup, it is made clear that the games have to be spread around the country, hence the England bid in 2018 couldn't just be based in the existing large stadia in the main cities, but instead would have to be spread around the regions, so that the likes of Plymouth and MK Dons had plans to expand their grounds to hold WC games.
Then they award it to Qatar, a country half the size of Wales, with virtually all the stadia bunched together near the East coast, a tiny geographical area. similar to Greater London
I'm starting to think Qatar won't be so bad.FIFA isn't a public spirited institution like the IOC that spouts the usual gumph about legacy and it's not the winning bit the taking part. FIFA aims to make money and so will award the World Cup contract where it can make the most money. FIFA have a history of making alternative decisions for the World Cup ever since it gave the 1994 World Cup to the USA who at the time didn't have a national league. FIFA learnt from South Africa 2010 that they don't have to worry about the morality of awarding World Cup contracts. This was a nation that preferred to play rugby, yet still built unwanted football stadia next to townships that didn't have running clean water; yet the world was prepared to turn a blind eye to this.
Not true. Part of the FIFA doctrine for selecting hosting nations now is about advancing football and infrastructure within the country which is why they are so keen to widen the net of countries chosen. And seeing as Qatar have already made arrangements to dismantle and sell the stadiums when the WC is over and so clearly have no interest in advancing football within the country, it proves even more what a corrupt decision it was.
I'm starting to think Qatar won't be so bad.FIFA isn't a public spirited institution like the IOC that spouts the usual gumph about legacy and it's not the winning bit the taking part. FIFA aims to make money and so will award the World Cup contract where it can make the most money. FIFA have a history of making alternative decisions for the World Cup ever since it gave the 1994 World Cup to the USA who at the time didn't have a national league. FIFA learnt from South Africa 2010 that they don't have to worry about the morality of awarding World Cup contracts. This was a nation that preferred to play rugby, yet still built unwanted football stadia next to townships that didn't have running clean water; yet the world was prepared to turn a blind eye to this.
Not true. Part of the FIFA doctrine for selecting hosting nations now is about advancing football and infrastructure within the country which is why they are so keen to widen the net of countries chosen. And seeing as Qatar have already made arrangements to dismantle and sell the stadiums when the WC is over and so clearly have no interest in advancing football within the country, it proves even more what a corrupt decision it was.
Also not true. They have agreed to dismantle the extra stands/seats in the stadiums and donate them to poorer countries like Palestine etc to develop their football infrastructure. Probably reducing the capacity of the majority of stadiums here from approx 50k (W.C) to 25k (after W.C) (most are 10-12k at the moment).
Interesting piece in the Times this morning speculating on how the 2022/23 season would be organised in Europe. Reckons the WC would take place between mid November and mid December with the Premier League season running mid July '22 to mid June '23, with a break starting end October and restarting on Boxing Day. Following season starts as normal. Euro 24 qualifiers are also accommodated.
The article makes it clear that at this stage FIFA are "consulting", but odds are this will happen. It'll probably work out OK too. Shame really because it means the Barstewards will get away with outrageous incompetence.
The article makes it clear that at this stage FIFA are "consulting", but odds are this will happen. It'll probably work out OK too. Shame really because it means the Barstewards will get away with outrageous incompetence.
If it was down to incompetence it would be more forgiveable. It isn't though, they're bent rather than stupid - pocket the cash and forget the consequences. Chances are that most of Blatter and his cronies will be long-retired by the time World Cup 22 comes round, smeone else'll have to deal with the mess.
Unbelievable to think that they went through something like a two year bidding and assessment process and are only now figuring out that it's bloody hot in Qatar in the summer.
As ever with FIFA, the last thing on their minds is playing football.
The article makes it clear that at this stage FIFA are "consulting", but odds are this will happen. It'll probably work out OK too. Shame really because it means the Barstewards will get away with outrageous incompetence.
If it was down to incompetence it would be more forgiveable. It isn't though, they're bent rather than stupid - pocket the cash and forget the consequences. Chances are that most of Blatter and his cronies will be long-retired by the time World Cup 22 comes round, smeone else'll have to deal with the mess.
I agree that there has always been a very unpleasant smell around the management of FIFA. However, I do not believe that incompetence is forgiveable.
I think that we have a right to expect those overseeing the world's major game to be both professional and accountable. The fact is that they are neither and naturally the two are related; if they were accountable they'd undoubtedly be more professional. They'd also be less prone to accusations of corruption.
The real question is how, in practice, a better form of governance might be organised. Blatter may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he's not completely stupid and he's on to this so will resist any structural changes because they'll prevent him do anything he just happens to fancy. I don't know what the answer is, but something needs to be done.
On a positive note. I retire in February 2022 and am thinking of treating myself to a World Cup experience. Not mentioned it to her indoors yet though.
The article makes it clear that at this stage FIFA are "consulting", but odds are this will happen. It'll probably work out OK too. Shame really because it means the Barstewards will get away with outrageous incompetence.
If it was down to incompetence it would be more forgiveable. It isn't though, they're bent rather than stupid - pocket the cash and forget the consequences. Chances are that most of Blatter and his cronies will be long-retired by the time World Cup 22 comes round, smeone else'll have to deal with the mess.
I agree that there has always been a very unpleasant smell around the management of FIFA. However, I do not believe that incompetence is forgiveable.
I think that we have a right to expect those overseeing the world's major game to be both professional and accountable. The fact is that they are neither and naturally the two are related; if they were accountable they'd undoubtedly be more professional. They'd also be less prone to accusations of corruption.
The real question is how, in practice, a better form of governance might be organised. Blatter may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he's not completely stupid and he's on to this so will resist any structural changes because they'll prevent him do anything he just happens to fancy. I don't know what the answer is, but something needs to be done.
Don't disagree with any of that. Unfortunately I can't see anything changing unless more than one major nation is willing to withdraw from FIFA or at least make a formal threat to do so. If England decided to make a stand on their own I doubt anyone would give a toss (they certainly didn't when the FA moaned about the 2018 voting). If England and, for arguments sake, Germany, Spain and the USA all stated that they would be withdrawing from FIFA (and its tournaments), that would cause FIFA a massive problem in terms of the footballing prestige of a tournament without (Spain, Germany and England) and commercially in terms of the USA (would McDonalds, Coca Cola and Budweiser be willing to sponsor a tournament that the USA has publicly snubbed?) Can't see anyone being willing to rock the boat though.
Eventually the game of football will outstrip FIFA just like the formation of the Premier League done for the FA. It's only a matter of time before governing bodies are sidelined by the interests of the real football money.
On a positive note. I retire in February 2022 and am thinking of treating myself to a World Cup experience. Not mentioned it to her indoors yet though.
The loathsome, woeful and utterly incompetent Sepp Blatter has now come clean.
Asked in an interview on Swiss TV whether it was an error to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup he replied "Yes, of course. You know, everyone makes mistakes in life."
In any organisation with a semblance of accountability and any form of effective oversight and governance it is simply inconceivable that this complete buffoon could survive such an impossibly crass error.
FIFA really is a spectacular example of self governance at its most incompetent and corrupt.
The loathsome, woeful and utterly incompetent Sepp Blatter has now come clean.
Asked in an interview on Swiss TV whether it was an error to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup he replied "Yes, of course. You know, everyone makes mistakes in life."
In any organisation with a semblance of accountability and any form of effective oversight and governance it is simply inconceivable that this complete buffoon could survive such an impossibly crass error.
FIFA really is a spectacular example of self governance at its most incompetent and corrupt.
A "mistake"...when all the problems are exactly the ones that were foreseen at the time...
Seeing as they have the money and there is a precedent - coundn't the matches be played in indoor air conditioned arenas? I think FIFA should demand this and if Qatar can't sign up to it - then the tournament should be removed from them.
Andthe problem with Blatter is that whilst everybody makes mistakes - the bidding process should be detailed enough that such an error that has occured should never occur. But really, the only way the decision that was made could have been made was through something dodgy. Sometimes, if it looks like Sh*t and smells like sh*t - that's what it is!
Comments
Don't worry, I'm sure FIFA have got a seamless plan to deal with all of these issues, we're just worrying over nothing!
But it would seem that there's no interest in doing anything so far.
Look at Brazil they had 1 yr longer than any other country to get themselves together yet there will be stadiums not ready until 12-8 weeks before the tournament starts , this is potentially a disaster waiting to happen, that is no time to host and run games in trial of facility and evacuation,
I worked with several stadiums hosting stuff on the Olympics and every test event threw up an issue that needed resolving from faulty alarms to plumbing and environmental issues
it took months to fix these faults then you have the issues for the concourse vendors this world cup and Qatar are shambolic for Fifa
In my opinion Qatar is way too small to hold the world cup and it would work better if shared with one or more Gulf states, but that aint going to happen.
When you consider the amount of time given you think its easy surely you can deliver that but for countries like qatar trying to deliver with no real concept of large scale sporting events
And
For brazil to try to do world cup and olympics is a real ask and is stretching their money and facilities to the max
its no wonder that their people are rioting in brazil
then comes the world cup , it makes hosting a cup competition look easy apparently I did some stuff for coca cola during euro 96 and the coca cola cup and ensuring that just the corporate and sponsorship people get in safely on time etc was so difficult
you have to multiply just that bit by a couple of hundred times,
let alone building stadiums arranging transport infrastructure and security, hotels, increases in tourism and security
it sounds to me that Qatar will be very very very busy and now the whole eye of the world will be on them longer and earlier
Middle East policies.
If oil becomes less attractive to the US, the ageing Saudi monarchs will struggle to cope with loss of revenue and various islamist upheavals
and could well find themselves with a Syria-type civil war in their hands.
The whole Arabian peninsula would be in turmoil, Qatar included.
Staging the World Cup could become the least of their worries.
Plan B, C or
If this not-so-impossible scenario takes place, i'll expect you lot to offer me a jeroboam of rosé champagne.
Chilled.
That is, if i'm still around of course.
With 'normal' bids for the World Cup, it is made clear that the games have to be spread around the country, hence the England bid in 2018 couldn't just be based in the existing large stadia in the main cities, but instead would have to be spread around the regions, so that the likes of Plymouth and MK Dons had plans to expand their grounds to hold WC games.
Then they award it to Qatar, a country half the size of Wales, with virtually all the stadia bunched together near the East coast, a tiny geographical area. similar to Greater London
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup
They have agreed to dismantle the extra stands/seats in the stadiums and donate them to poorer countries like Palestine etc to develop their football infrastructure. Probably reducing the capacity of the majority of stadiums here from approx 50k (W.C) to 25k (after W.C) (most are 10-12k at the moment).
The article makes it clear that at this stage FIFA are "consulting", but odds are this will happen. It'll probably work out OK too. Shame really because it means the Barstewards will get away with outrageous incompetence.
As ever with FIFA, the last thing on their minds is playing football.
I think that we have a right to expect those overseeing the world's major game to be both professional and accountable. The fact is that they are neither and naturally the two are related; if they were accountable they'd undoubtedly be more professional. They'd also be less prone to accusations of corruption.
The real question is how, in practice, a better form of governance might be organised. Blatter may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he's not completely stupid and he's on to this so will resist any structural changes because they'll prevent him do anything he just happens to fancy. I don't know what the answer is, but something needs to be done.
great shout make sure you do it pal ,
Asked in an interview on Swiss TV whether it was an error to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup he replied "Yes, of course. You know, everyone makes mistakes in life."
In any organisation with a semblance of accountability and any form of effective oversight and governance it is simply inconceivable that this complete buffoon could survive such an impossibly crass error.
FIFA really is a spectacular example of self governance at its most incompetent and corrupt.
Andthe problem with Blatter is that whilst everybody makes mistakes - the bidding process should be detailed enough that such an error that has occured should never occur. But really, the only way the decision that was made could have been made was through something dodgy. Sometimes, if it looks like Sh*t and smells like sh*t - that's what it is!