Friday, January 7, 2011

Wait for it...Mr. Blatter

Now that Qatar has been chosen to host the 2022 Football World Cup, it seems there is just one small glitch...
The average daytime temperatures in Qatar in summer are near 100-110°F or 40-45°C.
Suddenly, the international federation (FIFA) that awarded the World Cup to Qatar is wondering about how the players will survive the heat.
Mr. Blatter, the president of FIFA, said yesterday : ""I expect it to be in the winter because when you play football you must protect the main people, the players,..."
The glitch is whether the Cup ought to be held in winter because of the heat. If you remember, the technical committee that visited all the finalist countries noted that Qatar was not feasible because of the heat.
Hello, Mr. Blatter - did it take you this long to realize that your own committee was worried about a summer Cup in Qatar?
The president of the European football association is in favor of changing the Cup to a winter date. The German on the FIFA executive committee agrees.
Barcelona, the current European champions who are undoubtedly the best team in football, are opposed. So is the European football world in general. Why? Because the World Cup in winter would cut up their season and make a mess of all the schedules and rest periods for the players.
Mr. Blatter says that if Qatar requests a change of date, FIFA will consider it because FIFA can make any changes it wants to.
Maybe the best change for everybody would be to reconsider Qatar for 2022 and award the Cup to a country with stadiums (Qatar has one but will probably build stadiums all over the Arab Emirates for the Cup), with teams (Qatar is considering rounding up football players who might like to become Qatari citizens, and giving them their passports well before the deadline for such moves), and with a climate suited to football.
Don't get me wrong. I've been to Qatar. It's a lovely, friendly country, with good hotels, restaurants, shopping and beaches. Maybe it would be a great place for a World's Fair Exposition, like Shanghai's terrific exposition last year, or a Tennis Master's Final in a future November, or a Formula 1 race in winter...
BUT, please put the World Cup where it can actually be played and where it belongs.

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