FIFA's decision to award the World Cup to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 is most peculiar. Although football is well established in Russia, their facilities are not up to scratch and neither is the infrastructure. Moreover, racism is rife in Russia, the rule of law is questionable and corruption is pretty much an everyday part of life. Qatar hasn't got any football stadiums - well, OK, maybe it's got one - and 96% of its territory is sand. The temperature during summer, in the shade, is routinely 50 degrees celsius. Can you (or anyone in the FIFA executive) name any Qatari football clubs or players? And if FIFA's aim was to spread football and the World Cup to 'new frontiers' why encourage countries like England and USA to apply?
The Americans have a saying 'If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it probably is a duck.' So we must conclude that this whole episode had been a fix from start to finish and England, Spain, Australia, USA etc never had a chance. You were wasting your time and money lads; it was all a set-up. That's why Putin didn't bother canvassing - he knew it was in the bag. That's why Qatar did its presentation in Arabic - they knew it was in the bag. The tragedy is, of course, that it leaves us feeling very cynical indeed about FIFA and the bent old bottom-feeders who administrate football at the highest level.
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