2022 World Cup meaningless amidst further deaths

Milo and Otis redefined the whole feline/canine relationship movie. At least to a child, it did. It featured a beautiful ginger kitten and his buddy, a Pug, heading off on an incredible journey. It was one of the most successful kid’s movies of 1986 and had even the most grizzled, Star-Wars-obsessed seven-year-olds transfixed by its simple beauty.

Until we found out that that adorable ginger kitten was probably at least 20 adorable ginger kittens that just happened to look the same. Numerous reports have the animal cruelty budget on the project far exceeding the monies devoted to Dudley Moore’s voiceovers; those of us who experienced wholesome joy on first viewing now cleanse ourselves occasionally with scouring pads at once innocent memories.

via en.wikipedia.org

Two recent news reports over the past week have thrown yet further doubt over the qualifications of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup. The first, filed last week, has FIFA “seriously considering” moving football’s flagship event from the successful bidder due to concerns about possible human rights violations inflicted upon Nepalese workers involved in the construction of the tournament’s stadia.

This was followed on Tuesday by The Guardian reporting that over 500 Indian workers had died in Qatar since 2012. While totals are of course vague, this suggests that nearly 1000 underprivileged migrant workers have been effectively sacrificed in the past two years to construct state-of-the-art arenas for a country that boasts the world’s highest per-capita income.

The Indian consulate have confirmed that 717 Indian nationals have died in Qatar since the World Cup was awarded to the Gulf nation in December 2010, with some estimates of the death toll before 2022 stretching north of 4000. In the article by the Guardian, the Qatari Labor and Social affairs ministry were quoted as “clarifying” the numbers.

Precisely what that clarification involves is still to be determined.

Even yesterday, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter has suggested that Qatar’s host status is not under threat.

It’s time for football fans to say that the 2022 World Cup has no place in football. While it’s logical to assume that not all of these fatalities relate to World Cup construction, part of the tournament’s mission is to advance FIFA’s mission, which is to “develop the game, touch the world, build a better future”*.

FIFA’s better future obviously doesn’t extend to the families of the deceased workers.

On FIFA’s website, Joseph S. Blatter personally signs off on a phrase that should doom the Qatar World Cup, but seemingly hasn’t: “We see it as our duty to take on the social responsibility that comes hand in hand with our position at the helm of the world’s most loved sport”. That a member state works employees in such conditions as the Guardian and other sources describe so as to run a sanctioned tournament is comment enough on how seriously FIFA take their own mission statement.

Football fans must announce loudly to FIFA that they care more about the thousand-plus unfortunate workers – and the many more that continue to work under harsh Qatari conditions – than they do about watching an event tarnished by blood of this magnitude. In selling the event to Qatar, FIFA have embraced a nation whose ethic on immigrant rights is not only outdated, it does not reflect that of much of the world and deserves only the loudest and most strident condemnation.

Given FIFA’s (and Qatar’s) governance, the only way to effect change is to ignore the Cup. This might be a hardship, but a necessary one that protests the blind eye that the game’s governing body has turned to the plight of immigrant workers in FIFA’s tiniest powerhouse nation. As a football populace, we can’t ignore those deaths either and the responsibility rests with us to become agents of change – and the only way we can catalyse this is making ourselves heard, and by refusing to invest financially or ethically in a broken and self-centered institution.

It asks much of football fans to boycott a World Cup, but there are more important matters at stake than pride in a national sporting ability.

*(FIFA also suggests on its homepage that it stands for “authenticity, unity, performance and integrity. Make of this what you will).

Crazy Grandpa still runs world football

Recent noises from Geneva have suggested that world football’s out-of-touch grandpappy, Sepp Blatter, has focused his attention on staging a Winter World Cup in 2022.

In some weird logic puzzle, this makes sense: the tournament will be held in Qatar, which during the summer boasts an average temperature of 38°.  But given most major leagues operate during the northern winter, this change suggests that he hopes to disrupt league football for a period of at least six weeks in order to hold a tournament at the best time for the host nation.  Whether it is the best time for the players and supporters is still debatable.

Let’s forget – which we obviously shouldn’t – the ridiculousness of FIFA awarding the World Cup to a country that boasts an average summer temperature that would boil Satan’s blood.  Let’s instead briefly list the ramifications of interrupting league schedules for six – but, considering preparation, buildup and friendlies, more likely eight – weeks.

-          European seasons starting in early July 2021 and concluding in late June 2022.

-          No rest before season 2022-23, meaning two Eurasia-seasons are damaged by fatigue rather than just one.

-          Lower performance and more injuries as a result of year-round football.

-          League clubs from Australia to Iceland shorn of their stars and left in limbo.

-          Smaller television revenue for leagues the world over (except in the Americas and Russia).

-          Overkill leads to decreased interest in either the World Cup, the interrupted leagues, or both.

The conundrum does come with the happy bonus of getting to watch Michel Platini simultaneously fume but publicly defend the decision because he wants Blatter’s job.

Sepp Blatter and his FIFA Executive brethren selected Qatar for … reasons?  Whatever the rationale for the executive’s collective decision, it becomes more apparent “reasons” were tied to their gratification rather than that of the sport.  Considering the inherent climate (both environmental and cultural) of the host country, Blatter must now change almost the entirety of football to kind of redress his mistake.

No man should have that much power, and especially not a man like Sepp Blatter.

Ukraine heat a portent of 2022 World Cup

While England and France slugged out a draw in Donetsk, much the same occurred two days prior some distance from the Ukraine. The likes of James Milner appeared totally spent with temperatures reaching 33^o celsius in oppressive conditions.

On Saturday, the Australian Socceroos played Oman in their first 2014 World Cup Qualifier. The match was played in Oman, a hope, skip and Ashley Young dive away from Qatar – the site for the 2022 World Cup. With a 5pm kickoff, temperatures reached a rash-inducing 41^o celsius. The argument that "it's a dry heat" is quite nonsensical: when the Weather Channel says it feels like it's 46° outside, it doesn't matter whether the humidity scale is at 6% or 60.

In the first eleven days of June, Muscat recorded eight days where the mercury raised above 37^o; the lowest maximum temperature was 35^o. The average June temperature in Muscat is 39^o. Even more amusingly, 75% of June days are officially categorised as “hot”; the rest (24.6%) are officially classified as “sweltering”.

In news likely to cause players from cooler climes to melt like so many Wicked Witches of the West – I'm looking at you, Scotland – the maximum temperature in Donetsk today did not reach the minimum temperature in Muscat.

It's summer in the Northern Hemisphere. It's hot. Players expect to play in uncomfortable conditions and expect a quick turnaround time between games. However, hosting a major tournament in heat such as this is patently ridiculous, as is moving the tournament to winter to accommodate its fabulously wealthy hosts.

Never mind tough laws, designated drinking zones and the occupational health and safety of players, but fan health simply must have been more of a consideration before FIFA awarded Qatar the Cup.

If you can't take the heat, keep the World Cup out of the Gulf States.

Asian Fever!

With the 2011 Asian Cup just around the corner, most of the Asian Football Confederation's best players are preparing to wing across the world to join their national teams. The tournament will run from January 7 through until the end of the month, with most of the players leaving their European clubs as early as this week to ensure that they're fully prepared for the Qatar-based campaign. There will be a mix of traditional Asian powers like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea mixed among random entrants such as India, the UAE, North Korea and Australia.

Players from Asia rank among some of the most consistent in the European leagues. In the Premiership Tim Cahill of Everton and Australia robs the Toffees of their best goalscoring threat, while South Korea's Ji-Sung Park has been Manchester United's saviour on more than one occasion this term. Countryman Lee Chung-Yong has been an attacking force on the right for Bolton Wanderers, while Australia custodian Mark Schwarzer is one of the premier shot-stoppers in the league. His backup, Brad Jones, is still a work in progress at Liverpool while David Carney plies his trade down the left of Ian Holloway's Blackpool. Australians are more prevalent in the EPL than any other Asian players because many of them have English or European ancestry allowing Premiership clubs to sign them as Europeans, avoiding hassles with work permits. The last of the Aussies in the English top flight is Blackburn's workhorse Brett Emerton.

The Spanish League restricts the number of non-EU players each team is allowed to field per game, meaning that of the named squads, only Osasuna is sending players to the tournament in Iranian pair Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei. Whereas Italy's quota system for non-EU residents is more complex and as such there are fewer professional Asian players in Serie A.

Because of the difficulty in obtaining these work permits in these most famous leagues for non-EU residents, many of the elite Asian players play elsewhere in Europe. Germany in particular has an affinity for players from the Asian Confederation: North Korea's Jong Tae- Se and Japan's Shinji Kagawa are the two prime examples. Tae-Se's (Bochum) abilities were evident during the World Cup this year and the strong, bustling centre-forward could well be the most important player in his Group - a group that, given their occasional brilliance during the World Cup they should be favourites to win. Dortmund's Kagawa is joined in the Bundesliga by his brethren Hasebe (Wolfsburg), Makino (Koln) and Uchida (Schalke).

Russia has been the first step in the journey towards more lucrative leagues for some time for both African and Asian players. CSKA Moscow boasts probably the Confederation's best player, flame-haired Japan dynamo Keisuke Honda. The best Blue Samurai player - potentially ever - is still young and CSKA will struggle with his loss while cross-city rivals Dinamo will have to cope with with the departure of that most dependable Socceroo, Luke Wilkshire. The "other" back-route into Europe, Turkey, provides four Aussies including star man Harry Kewell and captain Lucas Neill from Galatasary and Besiktas' Ersan Gulum, a 23-year old defender who opted for the green and gold jersey rather than that of his adopted homeland, much to the dismay of former Socceroo coach Guus Hiddink

The favourites at this point must be perennial powerhouses South Korea and Japan, but Iran's squad boasts fewer players than usual playing in Europe and as such are a complete unknown. Unknowns, perhaps, could benefit as in 2007 Iraq surprised the continent with their enterprising play to take the chocolates. With Qatar on a high after winning the rights to host the 2022 World Cup, it would be a surprise not to see them in the second round as well. With many of the top players in the Confederation playing in the top leagues in the world, this year's Asian Cup promises to be an exciting series of matches.

Worst ... Forward ... Ever.

Khalfan Fahad's open-goalmouth miss during Tuesday night's Uzbekistan/Qatar Asian Games encounter is perhaps the worst miss in football history. In any effect, it's without question the most galling I've ever seen. In a sport where highlights rather than full games tend to garner players popular notoriety (ie. Joe in the street), Khalfan Fahad has made a name for himself. If you've watched SportsCenter over the last few days you may have seen it, but click here to see the footage of perhaps the most embarrassing fluff of all.

A little perspective, perhaps. It was during the 90th minute of the 2010 Asian Games, held in China and the Qataris were defending Champions. The players involved were teenage Qatari striker Fahad and Uzbek's puzzling custodian, Timur Juraev. The "incident" also happened on the same day that FIFA announced their shortlist for 2010 Goal of the Year Awards (click here to see those goals). Needless to say, this is hardly likely to feature. Whether the forward got the wobbles, the yips or a sudden attack of the brainfarts we may never know; whatever happened, it was a miss for the ages. To make matters worse, Uzbekistan then won the game in extra time and Qatar were eliminated from the tournament. Suffice to say that it was a costly slip by the 18 year-old.

It's also commonly assumed - probably correctly - that a flub of this calibre can haunt a player forever no matter how experienced they may be. We tend to remember the extraordinary mistakes: for example my most fervent memories of both John Terry and William Gallas involve them in tears. Players play the sport aware that with success comes notoriety and unfortunately, Khalfan Fahad must certainly admit with this gaffe he's achieved that, albeit in a manner he would never choose.

You find yourself hoping though that he's able to use such a shaming snafu to improve his game and succeed as a football player: it's one thing to be known for your success and another thing altogether to be infamous for what you didn't achieve.