Ugh - Get ready for a winter World Cup. What a farce.

First my apologies for being lax in 2015 to publishing some posts. I need to get back to ranting about the beautiful game! Here is a great reason to spew some anger - looks as if the Qatar 2022 World Cup will be held in the winter - click here for article. What???

Granted the reasons for this are obvious. It is too *&$%@# hot in the summer in Qatar! But guess what, we knew that before the nation was selected to host the tournament. I do not need to rehash my feelings towards this selection. From the fact the nation has zero soccer heritage, to the heat, to the ability to handle such a massive sporting event. This has been nothing short of a prime example why clowns like Sepp Blatter is seen as corrupt and a weasel. Qatar 2022 is all about money. The money FIFA hopes to get from the oil rich nation as well as the fat envelopes that most certainly found their way into Sepp and his cronies' pockets. I can only imagine what the clubs are going to say about this brilliant decision.  Holding the World Cup during November and December is going to fall right in the middle of club seasons, Champions League group stage games and countless national cup ties. The major European leagues, other than England, take a break end of the year. So what does the international duty mean for this? Will FIFA expect club seasons to continue minus the international players, as they do during the African Cup of Nations? Ask Manchester City how they felt about now having Yaya during that time....Clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, PSG, Chelsea, Bayern Munich would be fielding their youth teams! Granted that might make the mid-tier clubs happy. But seriously, this is beyond asinine.

If and when this becomes a reality, expect the majority of clubs to not just complain but challenge having to allow their players to go to the World Cup.  The mess that is Qatar 2022 is only getting worse. The sad part is the likes of Platini did not help by voting this in. Alas, Platoche is falling under the bad influence of global football's idiotic management.

Platoch, say it ain't so - Rumors continue to swirl with Qatar 2022 World Cup

The whole Qatar World Cup 2022 debacle continues. And this blog has always contended that it was a catastrophic mistake to allow a tiny nation, with little footballing pedigree, in one of the most inhospitable weather locations to host one of the most important global sporting event. The controversy only gets worse with reports that the president of the UEFA - Michel Platini - is suspected of being illegally swayed by Bin Hammam to vote for Qatar.

My admiration for Platini is also no secret. He was my childhood footy hero. I remember him dominating the 1984 European Cup, scoring a ridiculous amount of goals - 9. Putting away two hat tricks, against Belgium and Yugoslavia. As well as hitting the winning goal versus Portugal in Marseilles in the dying minutes of extra time to go to the finals.



He also has done some wonderful things post playing career - a short lived stint as manager of Les Bleus. Undefeated in qualification for the 1992 Euros, but playing poorly in the tournament. Platini was instrumental in getting France to host the World Cup in 1998 and influential in getting the Euros there in 2016. His efforts with financial fair play have not been perfect but a move in the right direction as have his emphasis on getting greater participation from more nations in the Champions League.

Of course I do not agree with everything he has lobbied for. I do not believe he is right with his ideas around expansion of the Euros, big mistake. Nor his idea of having multiple cities host the Euro championships or even the crazy idea of inviting a non-European nation to the tournament...huh???

The main accuser is the Daily Telegraph - click here for article. Based on the article there is a trail of meetings prior to the final vote for the World Cup where Platini met with Bin Hammam, at a private breakfast. As well as meetings with the then French President - Sarkozy. Does this mean that Platini took a bribe to vote for Qatar? That is a very dangerous leap to make. And one has to judge the source. It is no secret that there is no love lost between the british press and Platini. Yes there seems some sketchiness that Platini's son Laurent was given a job as head of a Burrda a Qatar sports company. But getting someone a job is far from the accusations of large sums of money being given to influence votes. I am sure that every nation that is bidding for the tournament sends representatives to lobby influential voters. So let us not act as if these types of meetings are not happening all the time - just look at any Olympic bid...Socchi anyone?

If there emerges some more nefarious information that comes out about these meetings, then shame on Platini. And if there is more damaging information that comes out, I would be the first to say Platoch would need to step down. However, let's not allow a witch hunt by the British press be accepted as fact.

Regardless of how you look at it, the Qatar World Cup bid remains embroiled in controversy. Something that is never too far away from anything Sepp Blatter is associated with.  I am hoping that somehow the bidding process will become so tainted that Blatter has no choice but to reopen the bidding process. The Qatar World Cup has been a disaster...8 years before the games are even scheduled to be played! There are no shortage of people, myself included, that is looking for any loop hole to find a way to take the tournament out of Qatar and give it to a more legitimate host.

And the drama continues.

Winter World Cup coming...the farce that is the Qatar world cup continues

The latest from the "geniuses" that govern world football is that the World Cup in 2022 that was controversially awarded to Qatar will be played in the...winter. Really? I have ranted about this in the past, and stories such as moving it back to the winter only add to my anger. The very fact the tournament was awarded to the tiny middle eastern nation was a farce to begin with. Why?

• Temperature issues - summer time in Qatar is not conducive to playing 90 minutes of international football and not suffering from heat stroke or worse.
• Host nation pedigree - I realize that the World Cup was award to a nation like South Africa which is better known for rugby than football, they also became the first host to not emerge from the group stages. Care to guess where Qatar is ranked in the current FIFA world rankings? 111th. Even South Africa who I just called out is ranked higher at 67. Farce.
• Other viable candidates - like the United States...got snubbed. Really? Other candidates such as Australia would have been better for the games. When Qatar first announced it was a candidate I did not even give it a second thought, there was no way this tiny nation would get the World Cup, an Olympic game? Sure, that comes down to, in essence, one city being able to host the event.

I blame all those involved, including the likes of Platini and especially that joke of a president Sepp Blatter. We all know why the tournament found its way to Qatar - money. Plain and simple. Who knows how much each federation and their leaders lined their pockets with, but clearly they made off like bandits. Blatter will promote how he has expanded the game and the reach but all he has done is continued to demonstrate what a corrupt and unscrupulous individual he is. I am still holding out hope that somehow the tournament has to be moved to some other venue, similar to what happened in 1986 and the Mexico world cup (it was originally suppose to be in Columbia). Alas I fear the morons that run global football will force a winter world cup, in a nation that does not deserve to host the games to start with.

A complete FARCE

Qatar World Cup - the debacle continues

The rumors continue to swirl that the World Cup in 2022 will be played in the winter. Due to the high heat of the middle east during the summer months. Seriously? This continues to show what a farce the entire World Cup in Qatar has been. The potential for extreme heat continues to haunt the World Cup venue. Hmmm, have UEFA and FIFA only now realized that it gets hot in Qatar? Have none of the governing body looked at a weather report or better yet, been in Qatar during the summer months?

This once again speaks to the money grabbing and corruption that is rampant in international soccer. There is no way that Qatar should have been a)allowed to bid for the World Cup b)won the bid. I am not against having the World Cup in new venues...but there are some places that are not feasible. Due to weather issues, geography, size of nation and standing in the international football landscape. These should and do play factors in being able to host such a tournament. All these factors should have ruled out Qatar from the start. Alas, money trumped common sense.

Now UEFA and FIFA are paying for the mockery they made of the process. Those that will really pay are the players and fans that might have to deal with oppressive heat in 2022.

News bulletin - Qatar World Cup back to the summer...much to do about nothing

So the fearless leader of FIFA has once again flip flopped and is now saying, as we knew all along, is going to be held in the summer! Wow, how novel the World Cup to be played when it is suppose to be played. The fact we have dragged on this long waffling back and forth as to whether or not the tournament would be moved to the winter has been a monumental waste of time and effort. All this has done is demonstrate how ridiculous the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar is to start with. I have gone over this in prior posts so will not rehash my complaining...but I have to let out another sigh and need to scratch my head once again as to why the World Cup has been awarded to a nation who has little football pedigree and is really not a nation ready to host such an important sporting event.

Then again I guess petro-dollars trumps worthy bids any given day.

Qatar 2022 - this is getting out of hand - more calls for Winter World Cup

Wow, I cannot believe this, but another voice to play the World Cup in the winter, this time from the player's union. This circus has spun completely out of control. Based on the article, Qatar's own citizens try to leave during the summer for cooler climates. Tourists are advised NOT to travel to the Middle East nation during the summer. Um, why were none of these issues raised during the bidding process? I know that Houston can get a little toasty in the summer, but you can still have some footie games there. Australia...is in the southern hemisphere so no real concern over heat during the summer! This continues to baffle me.

So the talk is to move the World Cup to the winter...and this will not disrupt clubs and country how? A couple of points. All domestic leagues have a winter break, other than the EPL. Of course those breaks tend to be 2 weeks...not 2 months. Second, most nations that participate in the World Cup actually need the time between end of qualifiers and the actual start of the World Cup to play friendlies, train and get ready for the tournament. This process, alone, tends to take at least 4 to 6 weeks. That time falls at the end of domestic seasons, not smack dab in the middle of league play. Speaking of qualifiers, those end in November...oh yeah. Look at how disruptive the African Cup of Nations is to clubs and now multiply that by 10! Clubs already grudging allow their players to participate in that tournament...will clubs release their players for a World Cup???

The farce that is the 2022 World Cup continues. One can only hope that in the very near future someone comes to their senses and finds some loophole in the Qatar bid and awards it to one of the other bidders who is more deserving and does not pose the myriad of problems that the Middle Eastern nation poses. Let us hope.

Qatar 2022, let the surreal continue

It has been over a week since FIFA dropped another bombshell on the world of football - Qatar 2022. I think the arguments over the merit of the Russian victory for 2018 have more to do with how the voting occurred in particular how favorite England was quickly eliminated (the Holland-Belgium bid received 4 first round votes and then only 2 in the next round, clearly voters looked to prevent England from winning) than whether or not Russia deserved the tournament. I realize that the corruption as well as racism has been written about at length, much of which from the English press, but some of this sounds more like sour grapes.

Qatar fans have something to cheer about

However the Qatar 2022 victory still baffles me. While I enjoyed watching Alexi Lalas and Gulati turning pale on the announcement, I remain shocked by the decision of going to Qatar. Like I said in my post, there is nothing NOTHING other than petro-dollars that make sense for bringing a World Cup to a nation the geographic size of the Fakland Islands, who have qualified for as many World Cups as the Fakland Island team has....none. Now there are suggestions to play the tournament in the winter, to avoid the 130F temperatures in Qatar. Winter? Really??? Now maybe that would force the EPL to adopt a winter break, but seriously?? Winter?  Just shocking.

Blatter continues to cover himself in embarrassment, not that he is aware of it. He babbles about bringing football to the Middle East, expanding the reach of football yaddy yaddy yadda. I give him some credit for seeing the marketing potential of moving the tournament to different locations, but how about starting with locations that make sense - Australia anyone? Blatter and FIFA have otherwise lost the plot. They are arguably one of the most powerful NGOs (non government organization) in the world but have acquired this power not because of their leadership but because the product they "govern" sells itself. Imagine how much better the game could be if FIFA were run by a competent leader. A small part of me hopes that in 2 years someone creates and productises a non fossil fuel combustion engine, dries up the petrodollars and forces Qatar to abandon their bid....wishful thinking I realize.