Winter World Cup agreement Reached!!

[SaintBobby]

They did ask, they just chose to ignore it when they saw the dollar signs.

 

Worse than that, they firmly asserted that the Summer wld not be a problem. Didn't even try to gloss it over!

[dubai_phil]

I'm aware that you can do all that (at one stage I actually had 3 active passports!) it's more a case of you having to lie to get in, which means that if (for whatever reason), you are questioned about it then you are well and truly f*cked !

BTW, I agree that the gay and booze issues are exaggerated and my only gripe is that the bid was accepted under false pretences, which TBF is much more of a condemnation of FIFA than it is for the country of Qatar !!

 

Here is some context with regards to "The Summer"

 

It is bonkers hot, in mid June midday temperatures will get up around 40C.

 

However, in 2002, Dubai hosted the England Squad who were here for two weeks of intensive training sessions both day and night in order to acclimatize to the MORE STRENUOUS potential conditions in Japan.

 

So England managed to put in a lot of shifts, play a lot of golf and sh"g a lot of Air Hostesses whilst here with the only "casualty" being a certain Left Back who was discovered to be under age at the time in a bar.....

 

Nobody died, in fact I was bumbling round the golf course the same time as them and they weren't even sweating out the beer.

[Wade Garrett]

It would appear to me that they put considerable pressure on Governments whose countries they have invested a lot of money in. Certainly in the case of France, and there are almost certainly others. Political pressure is not allowed to interfere with the bidding process, so this is Blatter's out. Platini will come out of it badly, which is another plus for Blatter, as he's a rival for his job.

 

A new bidding process should start. Hopefully it will go to a country bigger than the Isle of Wight.

[eurosaint]

It's a bloody farce. With all the time and money that goes into a bid no one seems to have asked "Is the temperature in this country okay-ish or will footballers risk dropping dead like flies on the pitch?"

 

The criteria for selecting a host nation should be something like this:

 

1. Is there (or will there be) a sufficent infrastructure and a good enough natural environment to host such a major competition?

2. Is the legal framework basically acceptable for players and fans of all competing nations, including those in the qualifiers? (Israeli fans/players, Muslim fans/players, gay fans/players etc must all be welcome. The World Cup shouldn't be held in a war zone or in, say, North Korea)

3. Consistent with 1 and 2, is the competition being rotated globally on about the same ratio of the number of qualifying slots for each confederation (So, Europe about 50% of the time, N/S America about 30%, RoW 20%).

 

Qatar only barely qualifies on point 3.

 

Please add point no. 4

4) Who is prepared to offer the fattest brown envelope ?

[eurosaint]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24282713

 

Turning the screw ???

[alpine_saint]

Whooopee dooo. A winter tournament.

 

I already have 44 reasons why Qatar 2022 can go f**k itself in terms of support from my household. The poor sods working on the infrastructure projects have to work all year round.

[Saint86]

In fairness I don' think that article is surprising in the least. There is a clear underclass of laborer in the middle east and they are essentially slaves in the worst cases. Maybe shining he spot light on it will improve their lot, that or it will suppress it further and make things worse.

[krissyboy31]

In fairness I don' think that article is surprising in the least. There is a clear underclass of laborer in the middle east and they are essentially slaves in the worst cases. Maybe shining he spot light on it will improve their lot, that or it will suppress it further and make things worse.

To everyone except the organising committee, apparently!! The whole thing has been a farce from start to finish. Good old Blatter.

[dubai_phil]

Hmmmmmm

 

http://www.sport360.com/football/blatter-2022-world-cup-could-be-held-across-uae-and-gulf

 

Just to show how he has lost his grip on reality the bit at the end about holding some games in Iran

 

FIFA president Sepp Blatter says the UAE has offered to help stage the 2022 World Cup and that the tournament could yet be spread around the Gulf.

Blatter is in Abu Dhabi for Friday’s Under-17 World Cup final where he admitted several countries had volunteered to help Qatar share hosting duties in nine years’ time.

The Swiss refused to rule the idea out and said it is something that will be discussed once exact dates for the tournament have been set.

Blatter wants it moved to winter and said he soon hopes to finalise plans for a November/December edition of a showpiece traditionally held in the summer.

Asked if a Gulf-wide tournament was on the agenda, Blatter said: “This is a question I keep a big question mark behind.

“I passed through Iran and even on a political level they said they would be happy to host some of the matches. Not only the Gulf states, but also Iran.

“This is a matter for UAE as well, they are very eager. But we need to take this step by step. We have up until 2022 to make a decision, nine years.

“The first step is how it can be made in winter, November or December. This will be discussed up until the next world cup.

“To spread it to other countries isn't a new point. It's an interesting one.

“I just talked with your (the UAE) sports minister at noon for lunch. They are eager to organise other international competitions.

"They have had the Under-20 World Cup and now the Under-17 World Cup, they are also keen to host a women’s tournament here.”

The future of the Qatar World Cup remains uncertain with FIFA currently looking at switching the tournament to winter because of extreme heat in the summer months.

After today’s visit to Abu Dhabi, Blatter is set to go on to Doha to meet with the Local Organising Committee.

[david in sweden]

it's all a waste of time.....

 

.....by the time that Climate Change is in full swing, they'll be having blizzards by then........

[dubai_phil]

it's all a waste of time.....

 

.....by the time that Climate Change is in full swing, they'll be having blizzards by then........

 

 

Well, we have had snow down here 3 times since 2003 (over in the Mountains)

[Saint_clark]

F*cking hell, so the original bid was totally false if we're swapping it to the opposite season AND spreading it around a further 5 or so countries.

 

This thing about wanting the tournaments to be played in as many countries as possible is all well and good, but what about the actual FANs? How are they going to afford hopping all over the continent?

[Chewy]

The idea of staging it across Arabia rather than in one tiny country makes sense to me on a certain level. But ... This was not the bid submitted, nor was it a winter tournament, and the idea of Iran being involved is clearly bonkers. It is farcical, and he makes himself look more ridiculous every time he opens his mouth.