In an interview with German newspaper Bild, FIFA executive Theo Zwanziger said that he does not think the controversially awarded 2022 World Cup will happen in Qatar.
A plethora of eyebrows were raised when the 2022 World Cup was awarded to the Middle Eastern country (pic below). With Qatar having no footballing history whatsoever and with their summers regularly registering temperatures well into the forties, it was a decision met with disbelief and suspicion. Allegations of corruption were doing the rounds and FIFA were heavily criticised for the decision.
It appears that common sense may indeed be prevailing if there is any substance to the words accredited to FIFA executive Theo Zwanziger in an interview with Bild in Germany in which he said: “I personally think that in the end the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar.”
The former head of German football added: “They may be able to cool the stadiums but a World Cup does not take place only there. Fans from around the world will be coming and travelling in this heat and the first life-threatening case will trigger an investigation by a state prosecutor. That is not something that FIFA Exco members want to answer for.”
While it must be noted that nothing official has come from FIFA regarding his point of view, it must be encouraging to see that maybe the tides are turning on a decision that never appeared to be grounded in common sense in the first place.
Hat-tip: Bild
