FIFA and their head honcho Sepp Blatter are no strangers to
controversy. Wherever Blatter raises his head trouble is always close by, be it
homophobic comments, his controversial view on racial abuse or the countless
accusations of bribery Blatter is never too far from the limelight.
His running of FIFA has transformed the organisation from an
already untrustworthy organisation into a downright corrupt circus. As if their
reputation had not been tarnished enough in recent years, the latest farce of
awarding the staging of the 2022 World Cup Tournament to oil rich Qatar was the
final straw for many people.
People may not be happy, but in time would come to
understand, if the World Cup had been awarded to a developing country that is
football mad. However to award the tournament to a country that boasts a
national team that would struggle to compete in the league of Ireland and whose
interest in football rivals the Irish publics in cricket is an absolute farce.
But wait, that’s not even the worst bit, FIFA have awarded
the World Cup to a country who treats migrant workers, those constructing the
stadiums for the tournament, like slaves, with reports of 18 hour shifts, the
confiscation of passports, and worst of all, on site deaths due to lack of
safety and extreme exhaustion. I’m sorry Mr Blatter and Co but the reek of
bribery emanating from the sealing handshake could be smelt in every corner of
the globe.
Qatar is having to
build everything it needs for the tournament, from stadiums to hotels, from
scratch and is spending $100bn on the project. The Guardian newspaper recently
conducted a surveillance project in the region and uncovered evidence of forced
labour and conditions amounting to slavery on the huge infrastructure project.
"The overall picture is of one of the richest nations exploiting one of
the poorest to get ready for the world's most popular sporting
tournament," said the paper.
If you need more
convincing all you need to do is take a look at the comments from Blatter
himself in the wake of the announcement. From the second the announcement was
made allegations of wrong-doing, bribes and backroom deals surfaced. A
whistle-blower from within the Qatari bid team came forward with claims of
corruption, but later recanted.
But three years after
the vote Blatter himself, bizarrely revealed to a German magazine there had
been "direct political influence" in the vote. Why? Because some
countries had major economic interests in the country, he claimed.
The final concrete piece of evidence is the case of former
FIFA board member Mohammed Bin Hammam. Within months of being awarded the 2022
World Cup, Qatar's representative on FIFA’s executive council, Bin Hammam, had
been banned from the game for life in the wake of a huge corruption scandal revolving
around the 2011 FIFA presidential elections.
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| Blatter is pictured here with the disgraced Mohammed Bin Hammam (right). |
Bin Hammam was the
main challenger to Sepp Blatter, but his campaign came off the rails when he
and several other high profile figures, including Jack Warner, president of the
Caribbean Football Union were accused of trying to buy votes. Qatar insists
Hammam was not involved in its World Cup bid, but his demise and more general
allegations about how FIFA operates have done nothing to dispel the fog of
suspicion around the decision.
Calls for the tournament to be boycotted will ultimately
fall on deaf ears due to the amount of money at stake however isn’t it about
time the respective FA’s of Europe at least hold Blatter and Co responsible for
bringing the game into disrepute and effectively turning it into a corrupt
business primarily concerned with profit?
