Holding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in the winter is the latest idea to come from Fifa’s daft ideas department presided over by chief clown Sepp Blatter. Well, I suppose it’s not quite so daft when you consider that the temperature in Qatar in the summer is around 50 degrees centigrade. The official evaluation report referred to health risks associated with staging the tournament there in the summer, but they were blithely ignored by the Fifa executive committee.
Holding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in the winter is the latest idea to come from Fifa’s daft ideas department presided over by chief clown Sepp Blatter. Well, I suppose it’s not quite so daft when you consider that the temperature in Qatar in the summer is around 50 degrees centigrade. The official evaluation report referred to health risks associated with staging the tournament there in the summer, but they were blithely ignored by the Fifa executive committee.
Qatar gave assurances that they could provide super cool stadiums, which might well be the case, but this does not deal with the question of training facilities or fans getting to and from games, even in an air conditioned metro. As the evaluation report stated, ‘The fact that the competition is planned in June/July, the two hottest months of the year in this region, has to be considered as a potential risk for players, officials, the Fifa family [sic] and spectators’.
As can be expected, the idea has gone down like a dose of salts with Premiership managers with Ian Holloway stating his views in no uncertain terms. (See video here) Of course, there are advocates of a winter break which would allow players to sun themselves while the fans are freezing at home. But this proposal would punch a hole in the middle of the Premier League campaign and that of other European competitions.
Blatter has now apologised for his advice to gays that they should abstain from sexual activity if visiting Qatar for the World Cup. The fact that Fifa is content for him to be their head, despite the damage he does to the public image of football, speaks volumes about the organisation.