Those who have Twitter would have heard the results of the winners of the World Cup bids before the official announcement. Who did not want to believe it until we saw Sepp Blatter hold the card up showing the winner?
I think that is what took many by surprise because what was basically already leaked on Twitter proved to be correct. That was the first indication that something did not seem right. So it must also be true when people announced that Qatar had already won an hour before the official announcement.
The second indication was the amount of votes countries like England and Australia received, after being promised more, which meant they didn’t pass the first round. Maybe our bid team was naive to think that ticking all the boxes was enough to secure a World Cup. Obviously FIFA operates differently and they needed ‘more’ than ticking all the boxes.
Sepp Blatter has emphasised before that he wants to take the World Cup to unknown territory. He is also trying to chase a Noble Piece Prize for that achievement. Knowing that, then really the only countries that should have made a bid for the World Cup is Russia, Qatar and Australia. Then again, if Australia is considered Asia, we should have not bothered either.
The words corruption and FIFA in the same sentence is nothing new. Many articles have been published previously criticising the way FIFA operates. There was that time when the G14 (a group consisting of the most powerful clubs in Europe) was formed in September 2000 aimed at reducing the power FIFA had on football. They have since disbanded, but have formed the European Club Association. However, with FIFA currently consisting of 208 members, it indicates that countries are still willing to go along with FIFA’s ways of doing things.
But for how long?
There have been calls already to create a new international football body. England does have the strongest football league and if they wanted to start one, I am sure they would receive backing. From memory, the USA were not happy with the result either. Has anyone spoken to Rupert Murdoch lately?
Holding the decision of 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts at the same time has not done any favours in terms of FIFA’s reputation. Instead of one surprise we had two. Frank Lowy humbly accepted defeat and was not willing to say anything negative about FIFA. The Australian media have expressed their disappointment and anger. As for England, they are not going keep quiet. It has been well known that British media are notorious when it comes to bringing people down. The Sun newspaper has already named and shamed the seven executive members that lied to the England bid team. Personally, I would just want to know who the one vote for Australia was from.
Maybe in a week or so the shock of the result will be forgotten. But for some reason I get the impression that FIFA’s problems have just begun.
apaway
Guest
Lorna While I obviously don't know for sure, subsequent reports and quotes strongly suggest that Franz Beckenbauer was Australia's lone supporter.
Mark Petrakis
Guest
Bludger, you mean smaller nations like oceania have been and Australia? Having had direct involvement with THE FIFA, there is nothing that the english FA can do to change the status quo, the power lies with Asia, It used to lie with the european nations including england, but that has since changed. Australia rode roughshod over the OFC and expected it to be the same when they transfered to Asia.They also expected that THE FIFA would also fall over themselves to appease the FFA THE FIFA has never ever done any favours for Australia be that the FFA or the Old ASF and never will, Until we can get the Asian countries to accept us we will never host the World Cup.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Mahony - I love your closing comment - pure GOLD! Come on G&G Army - you have a month to prepare this banner for the opening game against India .... "Qatar, you can have your 12 votes ... Australia's got the best 11 men!"
mahony
Guest
Good post. Doesn't make the decision right - just understandable. We signed up for this process along with all the bidders. We just got done on the politics. I am now firmly in the Johny Warren camp on this one - forget hosting the World Cup, lets go win the bloody thing. That way you don't need 12 votes - just 11 good men! That much we can muster.
djsinnema
Roar Rookie
Since people do not think that the country was ready from the start of the bidding process, i would not be surprised that FIFA may be required to take it off them. The media have a habit of being very savage with less developed nations holding major sport events. Dehli copped it big time before the Comm Games, Sydney copped it to some extent, and South Africa had a similar concern. However the main difference is, western countries involved in the organisations were supportive of the countries, however Qatar is likley to be attacked even from within its neighbours, who in large part are even richer than they are.
Lazza
Guest
Perhaps the English have only themselves to blame. Mike Lee, who advised both the successful London and Rio de Janeiro Olympic campaigns and was a key player for Qatar, struck a rare note of criticism at what has otherwise been portrayed post-vote as a strong campaign, particularly in the technical and presentational aspects. "If I'm being absolutely brutal about it and I look at international campaigns from across the world, I think this England bid campaign was not Premier League, it was relegation and League One. You can understand the frustration and disappointment but I'm not sure it's healthy to blame everyone else and not reflect on the campaign itself. As you look back, from the choice of the wrong bid leader in the first instance through to alienating the Premier League and a series of PR own-goals, it has not been a success. A lot was made at the beginning of how it was not going to repeat the mistakes of 2006 but it actually repeated many of those mistakes and even ended up with three fewer votes, and only half as many as Holland and Belgium."
Willy
Guest
"Thank you, Fat Tony. However, in the future, I would prefer a nondescript briefcase to the sack with a dollar sign on it."
Bludger
Guest
Giving the World Cup to Qatar is the equivalent of giving the winter Olympics to Alice Springs. Either FIFA over-turns this farcical decision or it will be taken out of their hands. There is already talk of challenging FIFA from England and removing the corrupt Sepp Blatter. Maybe a better solution is to create an elite football league of nations where smaller nations only get a nominal voice. Qatar is a rubbish football team, ranked in the 100s. They simply do NOT DESERVE this. After seeing the upcoming Asian Cup in Janurary everyone will scream to pull it off them. I TOLD YOU SO!
Australian Football
Roar Guru
On the ABC Offsiders program on Sunday. I am sure I heard Les Murray say that the 2022 WC will be taken from Qatar before 2022.. Obviously this furore has a long way to go as it seems. I am numb that he has suggested that possibility but who can tell----this just may happen with the USA ready to pounce as the ultimate winner..
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Lorna That's a nice column but, in my opinion, the only thing that surprises me at the moment is that everyone is surprised to realise FIFA's administration & decision-making may not be fair, open and transparent! Perhaps, I'm cynical, but the only thing that would surprise me in life would be to find evidence that ANY decision-making body in ANY country is actually fair, open and transparent. I cannot think of any such body - can you? I'm not sure if you've read the book titled: Foul! by Andrew Jennings? In this book, Jennings attempts to provide evidence of "the secret world of FIFA: bribes, vote rigging and ticket scandals". Jennings's book was published in 2006 and details allegedly unsavoury behaviour within the FIFA organisation back to the early 70s - nearly 40 years ago. Interestingly, I think over the years various FIFA employees & office holders have been investigated and, as far as I know, not a single criminal charge has every been upheld. I'd be surprised if anything changes at FIFA as a result of this latest public outcry. Perhaps, the only thing that may change is they may try "to better control" the flow of information that seeps into the public domain.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
They should do the vote survivor style (except vote for who to keep rather than leave) and televise it. Would make the process more transparent and more television friendly if we could see who voted for whom.