It is 11 entire years until the 2022 World Cup is set to kick off in Qatar - and yet its bid has been embroiled in controversy ever since it was announced. The FA have said they would rather it be played in the winter or, like I'd rather, have it moved from Qatar altogether. There are a vast amount of outweighing cons to pros with regards to hosting the event on the tiny Middle-Eastern country; it seems extremely baffling as to why FIFA thought it would be a good idea in the first instance.
Firstly, any scenario where two World Cup bids are going to be announced at the same time (2018 and 2022 WCs were revealed simutaneously in December 2010), is always going to result in an unfair contest. Countries are bound to be teaming up with each other to exchange votes. Do you honestly believe a bid as strong as England's only merited 2 votes? I certainly don't, and I remember being incredibly insulted that we had come last in the process. Even Becks, the most famous footballer on the planet, couldn't do anything.
Russia have seemed to have won their bid on the basis that they've never hosted the event before, though that is no surprise given the current disputes surrounding their prominent hatred towards certain cultures and new sexuality laws ahead of the Winter Olympics next year. Qatar, on the other hand, happen to have a spare dollar or two to - how shall I put it - 'influence' the 'voters'.
The FA have suggested - amongst others - that they would back a move to the winter for the tournament. Whereas this would wreak havoc with our seasonal calendar, it seems far more likely that this will be the solution that FIFA will prefer to choose over moving the World Cup elsewhere. But even that isn't without it's problems.
The main reason is that it makes even more of a joke of the bidding process. How can a bid for a summer World Cup be deemed valid for the winter? All those other countries (Japan, South Korea, USA and Australia) spent millions of pounds on hoping to host a summer contest; and now it seems that their efforts were not only not good enough, but now essentially pointless. Australia have a glorious 'winter'. Why can't they re-bid to do it then?
I'm sure we were all fascinated by Qatar's plans to deal with the heat by creating air-conditioned stadiums - well, that plan could well be going down the drain. That was likely one of, if not the best feature of their bid. And you won't need those at mid-20s Celsius.
The main concern, of course, is the players and spectators' safety. No-one wants to be playing nor watching football at 40°C, even for all the hydration supplies in the world. I may not be the only one even more concerned about this in the wake of the tragic death of Cristian Benitez (RIP Chucho), who lasted just one game in Qatar. How will players react to that heat? We may have to send the team months before to acclimatise fully. As for the fans, as if the air temperature wasn't enough, try sitting with all those other sweaty watchers surrounding you.
Blatter did say he wanted to send the World Cup around the globe, and in fairness to him, he has done. Though I don't think he has compromised for fan safety and enjoyment. A winter World Cup would be much safer, but that's just not what the World Cup is about.
The best solution for me is that they move it elsewhere. Unfortunately for the Middle Eastern countries, they live in an area of the world that is far too dangerous to hold a global event like this and I reckon the next best bid (USA) should get it instead. I get the feeling, however, that FIFA will not be able to handle the shame of taking it away from the Qataris. Either way, though, something tells me that this World Cup be a bit of a mess.
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