Sepp Blatter wants to move World Cup 2022

[The Fifth Column]

He just has a face I would happily punch. He also appears to have been schooled in North Korea in terms of his views and opinions.

 

[beorhthelm]

i see this leading to a power struggle between UEFA and FIFA. not sure that helps anyone though. anywho does he not realise how wealthy the Qatari's are and how unquietly they will take this? whoevers pay for the move had better have deep pockets.

 

[essbee]

This says it all for me:

"we have to take into account the health, not of the spectators, but of the players," he told Sky Germany.

Cheers Sepp - glad to see you think it through for all concerned. you complete w****r.

 

[Ravids]

Playing in the 45 degree heat will be suicidal, I would not be surprised if players DIED for goodness sake.

They should have given it to Australia/USA. But obviously money is more important than the players and spectators safety though...

They should all be shot, Sepp first.

 

[Blackadder]

Agree with the points already mentioned. The powers that be obviously considered ALL the basic points before they took their 30 pieces of silver on their junket, sorry I meant before their serious, honest, responsible evaluations.

They say it should go to new countries, that haven't had it before.

I agree. Should have gone to Oz. Not only a new country but a new continent that actually plays the sport. Somewhere that international football fans would actually want to go to!

 

[Gwylan]

I think that a winter WC would mainly cause serious problems in England. Many (most?) European countries have a break in winter already and would be relatively easy to extend it. Some leagues may also take the opportunity to reduce the size of its first division. England has three problems a) it has no winter break; the PL is larger than most other countries' equivalent and the top league is not run by the country's FA. The latter would want to work in the national football's team's best interest - the league couldn't be bothered.

If the decision was made to switch to winter, it wouldn't surprise me to see England on its own on this one

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

solution=don't have a world cup in a ****ing desert

 

[albion534]

I love how he now claims Brazil shouldn't have it....corrupt old ****

 

[Ali_rrr]

solution=don't have a world cup in a ****ing desert

This... So this...

 

[Black Rod]

Quite a lot of the important people in Europe - whose leagues it will affect - are now saying it should be moved to winter and we'll change our scheduling to accommodate this

 

[Mental Lental]

It's much more likely that the domestic football schedule will be changed to accomodate the WC that year. FIFA are unlikely to go back on their decision of which county will hold it.

The bribes have already been paid and I suspect they have a "no returns policy".

 

[Plake]

Agree, it's going to be moved to winter like it or not. Agree FIFA are a bunch of utter****s. Especially Blatter.

We'll cope, it's only a game.

 

[sueflaki]

The World Cup should be in winter, summers are way too hot with 50 degrees.

 

[Wardy]

The big problem of moving this once to the winter, is that it opens up all sorts of future issues, especially given that it is a case of the country with the most money wins. Expect when the bidding for the 2026 and 2030 world cups starts to see countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia putting in bids saying it would be a winter world cup and holding up the 2022 event as the precedent.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

I thought they were making identikit stadiums that could be transported in pieces around the world ( a bit like the swimming pool in the Olympic park whe the stands are heading to rio)

Also are they not installing huge aircon units to keep the temperature down?

 

[Simster]

I'll state what has already been said before making my point; it should have been made clear at the start of this bid that Qatar planned a winter event. But of course the bid would have been rejected and the bungs not paid. So I'm not questioning the contempt we should hold for Sepp Blatter or FIFA for awarding the WC to Qatar in these circumstances.

However, I think it's fair to suggest the game needs a rethink over when the tournament should be held. It isn't always going to be reasonable to hold it in summer time just because it suits the big leagues in Europe. The game is truly global these days, and there is barely a nation on earth with zero interest in the tournament. It isn't a game belonging exclusively to the two superpower continents.

 

[Brovion]

Quite. And Blatter actually makes the Italian PM look statesmanlike

This could be a showdown between the biggest league in the world and FIFA. My money is on Murdoch.

Incidentally, widening participation is a socialist concept. Widening participation to a tiny oil rich dictatorship, where half the population (the 'tarts' as they say in Liverpool) have no enfranchisement, is perverse. Its as bonkers as giving Lord Sugar a free bus pass.

This is what happens when you have an organisation that does not limit the elected president to two terms, max.

I say boycott the WC. We don't need it. We'll never win it anyway. Back in the Good Old Days we didn't even bother to enter . . . and back then England ruled the world.

I'm only half joking.

Quality. I really wish you'd posted more than a few hundred times in ten years.

This is one of the few, indeed possibly the only, time I've been grateful that it's the clubs that are powerful now rather than national associations (certainly in Europe). They could well be the ones to tell Blatter to shove it, even if he browbeats FIFA into making the switch.

 

[maltaseagull]

They should have thought of that before they let them bid

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ (Can you hear it?)

 

[MattBackHome]

Serious question:

Are FIFA accountable to anyone? Could anyone take them to task? Who owns FIFA?

It seems that if any government tried, it would just look like pettiness or sour grapes.

 

[Simster]

Serious question:

Are FIFA accountable to anyone? Could anyone take them to task? Who owns FIFA?

It seems that if any government tried, it would just look like pettiness or sour grapes.

Sadly not. In fact, if anything they can do what they like. They don't even pay tax in Switzerland - they threaten to move their HQ if they are ever told they have to do so.