Replace snow-storms with sand-storms and they might. And what if the air-con breaks down? It's not like you'll be able to cool down with an icy cold beer...

lol get over it.

"FIFA warms to winter date for Qatar 2022"



Time to re-write that requirements book...

Lets hope the football world rejects this garbage and tells FIFA where to stick it. FIFA have made their proverbial bed and now they need to be made to sleep in it.

IF 40-50 degree temperatures weren't a problem during the bid process, why the f**k is it a problem now? (no need to answer that question)

FIFA Bid Committee member: "It gets HOW hot in Qatar in summer?!? Who'd be stupid enough to hold a tourn... oh..."

If one were concerned about summer temperatures, one logical response would be to stage the tournament in Russia.

Are you Franz Beckenbauer?

The Qatar Foundation just signed on as shirt sponsor for Barcelona. 40M pound a year for 5 years. Now why would a not for profit organisation set up by the Emir in 1995 to develop education in Qatar and the Arab world do that? Interesting that the Emir's wife who was part of the Qatar bid team is Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation.



http://www.barcelonareporter.com/index.php?/news/comments/fc_barcelona_shirt_sponsor_deal_with_qatar_foundation_richest_deal_ever_but/

fume fume

*bump*

Sorry to bring up the harsh memories of this thread!

I was going for a jog this arvo, and listening to a podcast on my iPod.

I'd downloaded about 120 podcasts of the Conversation Hour with Richard Fidler from ABC local radio Brisbane because I love the show and due to other commitments I seldom get to listen to it.

I've been gradually working my way through a couple of years worth of these fascinating interviews, and to my suprise todays one was an interview with Ben Buckley.

Would made it interesting (and relevant to a stadiums thread!) was the interview was on the eve of Australia's 2010 World Cup campaign and about 20 minutes of it had to do with Australia's bid.

This was, mind you, before we bowed out of the 2018 race but he'd virtually conceded at this point it was off to Europe. He sounded so confident about our chances of beating 'Japan, Korea and the United States' but beyond a tiny mention of who was bidding he didn't even reference Qatar.

It's hard to tell, retrospectively, if he was holding back but there was something about it. I think he was concerned, from the sounds of it, with three countries - England, the US and Russia. Beyond that he thought we were done.

One bit that made me laugh out loud was when the interviewer asked, he said he'd been talking to other delegates and was confident of their vote. The interviewer then said, 'but don't you think they're saying that to everyone?' or words to that effect, and he was so dismissive of the notion. Funny how things work out.

I think the interview is still available through iTunes if anyone wants a listen.

Sepp Blatter refuses to rule out a rerun of voting for the 2022 World Cup because of corruption claims

Herald Sun
May 20, 2011 2:49PM
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Something to think about ... can FIFA strip Qatar of the 2022 World Cup?
Source: Sebastian Derungs / AFP



FIFA President Sepp Blatter has not ruled out a rerun of voting for the 2022 World Cup host, after claims of corruption rocked last year's vote.


A rerun would give Australia a chance to snare the finals after it was knocked out in the first round of voting in December last year.

The right to host the world's biggest sporting event was controversially award to Qatar.

But Blatter told UK newspaper The Independent that an inquiry, sparked by claims of corruption made in The Sunday Times, could see the FIFA executive cast their votes again.

Blatter told the Press Association there was a groundswell of support "circulating around the world" for the voting process to be rerun.

"But don't ask me now yes or no, let us go step by step. It's like we are in an ordinary court and in an ordinary court we cannot ask: 'If, if, if'," he told the Press Assocation.

FIFA president since 1998, Blatter is being challenged by Qatari Mohammed Bin Hammam, 61, president of the Asian Football Confederation, at the June 1 poll.





"I'm very confident," Blatter said during a recent interview.

"FIFA isn't ready for total change, where the running of operations would go to the six confederations. If we dismantle the pyramid, it will fall down.''

Blatter said he had been boosted by support from UEFA president Michel Platini and the Oceania Federation.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/football...-1226059735956

It would kill 2 birds with 1stone..... It could kill off the Qatar bid (which has proved unpopular,) as well as the Qatari after his job at the moment

Yeah, there's no principle involved here. No higher duty to the integrity of the game. It's just Sepptic trying to open a new front in his fight against Bin Hamman. They're both c***s

^^^ this, Ever since I've been a football fan FIFA have been nothing but a bunch of c**ts The game survives because of its artistry and wonder sometiomes in spite of FIFA rather than because they've nurtured it:(
One only has to remember the completebullsh*t qualification routes handed to the Socceroos over the years(as evidence of bastardry) until we wrangled our way into Asia...to even qualify for USA 94, the Socceroos were made to play Italia '90 runners up Argentina for crying out loud:( This after everytime Sepp turned up in Australia he'd trot out the "of course Oceania as a Confederation in good standing with FIFA deserves a direct WC slot" garbage(It never has deserved one IMO)
Too bad they hold toomuch power over the big federations of Europe via the Champions League money for countries like England, Germany and Spain to seriously consider suceeding and starting afresh:(

"seceding". What you said only makes sense for England

thx for the spelling[what the southern states did to the Union to initiate the US civil war was the word I was shooting for:(] do you think Real Madrid and Barca could afford to run the large deficit spending they curently do without the annual ECL income? I don't.
Germany is a very well financially regulated league(would you expect anything else from ze cunning Germans?) so the impact would be much less. Italian clubs would struggle without the ECL moneyNo ECL money would ruin 3(ENG/ESP/ITA) of the world's biggest football leagues, potentially bringing down the whole structure of football at the top level. the run-ons for the rest of the world would be analogous to the impact in the financial world globally of the USA defaulting on its loans. This is why FIFA gets away with its shady business dealings:(