QATAR<br>FIFA's Worst Mistake?

It's not the best time to be Sepp Blatter. His decisions aren't always the most popular and the current chaos in Brazil with the responsibility of hosting this year's World Cup isn't helping his cause either. The 20th instalment of football's greatest spectacle is a burden for the average Brazilian more than it is a celebration of the beautiful game. Recently, Blatter's admitted that awarding the 2022 World Cup bid to Qatar was “a mistake”.
From the get-go, Qatar wasn't met with the most enthusiasm. Now, FIFA's moved pretty quickly to dismiss claims that its president has suggested that Qatar is “unfit” to host the World Cup. Blatter, who is believed to have voted for the USA, was never a supporter of the Qatar decision to begin with, albeit quite possibly for all the wrong reasons. His chief rival for next tenure as FIFA President, current UEFA President Michel Platini, had allegedly voted for Qatar, and right now is probably the only ardent supporter of the decision other than the Qataris.
The arguments against Qatar are too strong to ignore. FIFA's inspection team noted that Qatar was the only “high risk” option among all the bidding nations and its technical report clearly indicated that it's too hot to play in the summer. Having committed to spending around 145 billion euros between now and 2022, there are some who believe that Qatar might have “bought” the right to host the World Cup. Blatter denies those allegations but has said that the reason 14 of the 22 voting members chose Qatar was for political reasons.
Qatar will need to spend that 145 billion on nearly everything. Rail and road infrastructure, residential and commercial developments as well. Most of these contracts have already gone to the Germans, one of the two nations that Blatter claims were exerting political influence on the voting members.
Fans play a big role in making the World Cup the World Cup. For fans who want to come to a World Cup from the likes of Europe or the Americas, Qatar doesn't offer them much to do. While Qatar has more liberal policies than most Middle Eastern nations, it still has strict laws that might be viewed as too conservative for the tastes of its Western guests.
Add to the fact that their entire bid was made without a single stadium in the country, never mind the promised air-conditioned football stadiums in cities that don't even exist yet. Then there's the issue of non-existent cities that are allegedly being made by using “modern-day slavery”. Nepalese workers, some of who are working on the planned cities, accused their employers of withholding pay and working under extreme conditions back in September 2013. The lack of active labour laws means bad news for our fellow Bangladeshi workers there. The air conditioned stadiums they have been hired to build aren't even architecturally possible in the dry Qatari climate according to the architecture firm that was hired to design them.
Temperature soar to 50 C in the summer and the failure to build their space-age stadiums means that the World Cup is sure to be moved to the winter in 2022. For most of us, clubs matter more than the national teams we support in the World Cup (unless of course Bangladesh makes it in 2022). Similarly, for a lot of these huge global stars, clubs matter more than countries. For fans and players alike, the idea of a Winter World Cup is a huge headache. While the World Cup is a big event, postponing all the major European leagues is something that no one wants. A Winter World Cup also clashes with other major sporting events, namely Super Bowl and Winter Olympics.
The World Cup is supposed to be a time of togetherness when people from all across the globe get together to enjoy the biggest sporting spectacle in the world. It's supposed to be the last place that should be marred with social issues and overall corruption. Based on the current situation, hosting the World Cup in Qatar makes a mockery of the greatest show on earth.