Qatar once again proving to be a particularly divisive issue…
With FIFA set to announce in the coming days that the 2022 Qatar World Cup will be held in the winter, we look at key reasons for and against such a decision and what impact it could have on the world of football.
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Against:
Screws up European leagues
Essentially what FIFA are demanding is that every league which has a schedule from August to May completely change their set-up.
Firstly, clubs would have to allow players to leave presumably in October to begin national team preparations for a tournament that starts in November.
They would then be involved in an international event that has a proposed finish date of 23rd of December.
And if we’re wanting players to remain physically healthy, you assume they will have to have time off at the end of such an intensive tournament.
After the 2014 Brazil World Cup, players were expected to have at least a month off, which means European leagues will be unable to commence until at least the end of January/start of February.
Four months have been wiped off the footballing calendar, which means the Premier League, say, will have a prospective finish date of September 2023.
Complete madness.
And even if the there was an attempt to revert leagues back to their usual timetable over the coming seasons before the next international tournament this would still see players have to somehow fit in a European championship somewhere.
But, by the time the calendar had been reset for 2026, FIFA would no doubt have rejected an even more inhospitable location, probably the planet Mars by this point, to host a summer tournament and the whole cycle would start again.
It wasn’t in the re-mit
It’s a summer tournament.
The idea of a winter event was only suggested from official FIFA bodies openly after it had granted the tournament to the Middle Eastern state.
So effectively the public were lied to when Qatar said it could ensure matches were played in 40 degrees celsius heat with those futuristic, air conditioned stadiums turning about to be a complete mirage.
The only thing that was presumably true in the Qatar 2022 brochure was the fact it was happening in 2022 and in Qatar.
Though they’ve even tried to screw that up, taking the tournament as close to 2023 as they possibly can.
Sets a precedent
The idea that FIFA can just make decisions that affect the entire footballing world without so much as a vote from every footballing Federation, not just this out of touch executive committee or the maniacal aspirations of one man, is quite simply incredible.
The incredulity is only matched by the precedent it sets where FIFA can make a decision and expect people to fall in line behind it without so much as a consultation or debate.
A footballing despot.
Christmas
The proposed change would see the tournament end on the 23rd of December.
It would essentially wipe out the national holidays of the majority of European nations without hesitation because this World Cup just HAS to be in Qatar.
Because it’s the Qatar World Cup
Human rights violations, women rights, dying workers, corruption, homosexuality laws…the list is endless.
It’s morally repugnant to think this prestigious, international tournament could actually be going there.
For:
It’s going to be less hot
We’re sorry that’s the only one we could think of.
And the only reason this has even been suggested is because of how damaging it would be to players health if it did take place in the Qatari summer.
What a farce FIFA is. What a farce.