It's popular opinion amongst the media to say that the Qatar world cup will unequivocally be a disaster. No one is looking at the other side of the argument, which it probably deserves as an event. I know that it is a completely different event, but remember amount of people who said that London 2012 would be an abject failure. It was actually one of the greatest Olympics in living memory, it is the popular option in this country to say something will not work. Qatar is a far different case of course but it once again seems to be the popular whinge, in the pub, on the radio, even interviews with club managers now. Although moving the World Cup would effect club managers, what interest have they got in talking about it. Does anyone seriously think that Sepp Blatter is going to listen to what David Moyes has to say?
I am not going to touch the obvious political issues as although very important it is not my place. However, again it should be remembered that we had these issues in China before the Beijing Olympics, but they were successful.
The temperature is what this argument always comes back to. Arsene Wenger has already said that "the footballers will be fine, they will be conditioned". Footballers have already played in 45 degrees in 1994 in the USA and the 1970 and 1986 Mexico world cups were consistently over 30 degrees. With air conditioned stadiums then there should be no issue for the players, if everything is built as they say.
However, the fan safety is huge, many have already stated accurately that 'you can't air condition a country', this is all to true, and could result in problems for many Western European nations fans who travel. Along with this is the drinking issue, Qatar maintain fans will be allowed to drink, but it is not in their culture to drink. Therefore, how will they respond when the inevitable happens and someone gets very drunk, imprisonment? They can't possibly do that after the support they have received from FIFA ever since the announcement was made. It would be a case of absolute embarrassment for FIFA and I don't believe the Qatari's can afford to step out of line.
Can sport help? I said I wouldn't mention the politics but I am going to dip my toe ever so slightly into the murky waters. What if sport brings the country together and helps it to move forward by working together. Some new laws look likely to be passed before the World Cup lands, the homosexuality issue for example, is there a chance that this World Cup could enlighten the Qatari people on what is a immoral stance on their behalf. The same goes for several other laws and cultures in Qatar, they will only change with foreign influence, and some of them do need to be changed.
Maybe I am just a sporting romantic and none of this will come to fruition but going back to the Olympics in China, there were issues with that event but they pulled it off. Does Qatar have a few issues to many to make a successful World Cup? We'll just have to wait and see whether it be Summer, Winter or otherwise. The only way it has any chance of being a success is by everyone working together to make it the best it can be. Qatar probably weren't the best choice, the reasons may not be entirely justifiable, but that's in the past, now sport needs to help change the culture of a nation.
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