I will be one of many here to congratulate Russia and Qatar for their awarding of hosting rights for the 2018 and the 2022 FIFA World Cups respectively, but what you are about to read may come out as a bit of a sore loser.
Having said this, FIFA’s choices for the future World Cups will raise eyebrows amongst the international footballing community.
Firstly, we must not turn a blind eye toward our own bid.
I personally feel for Mr Frank Lowy and the bid delegation that worked hand in hand with the Australian Government to attempt to put forward the best possible bid. However, we musn’t play ignorance to our own flaws. Perhaps the pre-decision hype mixed with our ‘lucky country’ attitude may have played up our chances too high.
Even I became all caught up in the euphoria that was ‘ComePlay’, that we may have needed to sit back, and take a big look at our bid.
I admire all that the team (by definition Frank Lowy) has done locally. But I believe that the downfall to our bid was the final presentation, along with the high confidence leading up.
The final bid video should definantely been taken much more seriously. FIFA is an international cooperation, one of the biggest collaboration of nations in the World. A bid video confirming out strong intentions, and a re-cap of the stadia, and a more in-depth look at our economic stability and our regional assets, as well as previous history hosting international events.
Moving on to the Qatar bid, our eyes must first turn toward the strong political pull that would take Qatar to the hosting rights. Mohammed Bin Hammam is a Qatari.
He is the President of the AFC. Now having stated numorously about his plans to stage a takeover from Sepp Blatter in the FIFA Congress 2011 if Qatar are not given the hosting rights, this already spurs a long debate over the political nature of the hosting rights.
We have to keep in mind that politics will triumph in most international arenas, and upon first glance, FIFA is no exception.
Qatar’s is a nation with a population sub-2 million. Along with most of the stadia being located within a 20 mile radius of each other, somehow the nature of FIFA’s stadia rule in the past has been reliquished for the rich Arab nation.
Nevertheless, the alcohol which is currently lacking in the nation will apparently be allowed in several fan zones. These zones, which will hopefully actually contain a real fan (this has a double meaning), as it gets rather hot in Qatar, but more to the point, football fans are going to be herded into little zones to drink.
This is defeating the point of the fanfare that previous FIFA World Cups have shown. Drinking in the streets with fans and enemy alike, sharing one common goal, to watch the world’s greatest players.
This time around, however, fans and enemy will be drinking together, in pens designed for the seemingly insufferable task of alcohol consumption, with one common goal, to huddle around the fans within the fan zone, whilst catching a glimpse one of eight football matches all being held within 20 miles of their zone.
Sarcastic comments aside, the lack of alcohol is something that fans alike will not be too happy about, especially that lack of free (not financially) drinking.
The fan zones will not be the same as Germany and South Africa. The heat will be countered with air-conditioned stadia, however this does not excuse the intense summer heat that fans and players will have to comphrehend whilst not in the stadiums.
Finally, the one point that has baffled me the most is the selection of a nation with absolutely not footballing history, or culture. Qatar are ranked in the 100s. Surely the argument is football growth, but for all it’s worth, the population of 1.2 million and the half the size of Tasmania cannot benefit to the competition’s full potential.
Playing down football’s growing football sides, both ranked within the top 30 nations, Australian and the United States is a very big and baffling choice.
I am not a sore loser, however I am quite the hypocrit. I’d like to say, however, I do not believe I am liable to the term sore loser at this situation. I am more suceptible to the term confused right now.
Which is one I’m sure we can attribute to almost 20 million Australians, plus the added populations of the United States and England.
Frank Lowy, Johnny Warren a fellow footballing pioneer in this country said ‘I Told you So’, and I, as a journalist, say ‘I’m Sorry.’ We truly appreciate all you have done for football in this country, and we will try and try again til we are succesful. Any World Cup we host in the future, be it 2026, or 2056, will be hosted in your name and honor. I will be the first to say that our FIFA World Cup Stadia should be named Frank Lowy Stadium in your honor.
I have doubts that you will read this short notice, but on behalf of your fellow footballing compadriates, “We say Sorry.”
In 2018 we will be putting down the Vodka in Russia celebrating our footballing conquests in the east, while in 2022 we will be saying “It’s too damn hot.”
FIFA, “We told you so.”
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/turnermate / twitter.com/TheRoarSports
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