Soccer is the world’s favorite sport, and its most prestigious international tournament, the World Cup, is taking place this summer - in Russia.
While there is a great deal of controversy over the prospect of a Russian World Cup, especially with the various international incidents that the host nation seems eager to cause, I would like to take a look to the World Cup of 2022, which will be hosted in Qatar.
The prospect of a Qatari World Cup is a testament to the bone-deep corruption of FIFA; allowing Qatar to host the World Cup is a logistical nightmare which involves immense expenditures for national soccer federations, to say nothing of the detestable human rights violations being committed.
Qatar’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup was selected by the FIFA Executive Committee in 2010; two of its members were suspended before the vote even began due to allegations of corruption regarding their votes. Qatar is the smallest nation to ever host a World Cup, and this will be the first World Cup they have the privilege of playing in - simply by virtue of being the host nation. Since their bid succeeded, there have been major shakeups in the executive echelon of soccer - the largest of which was long-serving FIFA President Sepp Blatter stepping down amidst an FBI investigation into his organization.
As it stands now, the 2022 World Cup is a logistical hassle just based on the location alone. When Qatar launched their bid in 2009, an evaluation report expressed concerns about the effect of the summer heat on players and spectators, with daytime temperatures reaching over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer.
FIFA’s brilliant solution to this?
Hold the World Cup in the winter, during November and December. The major problem with this is that the vast majority of domestic leagues, including the world’s top six leagues, are in full swing during the winter. Additionally, the UEFA Champions League, the world’s premier international club competition, also schedules matches from October to December.
National associations will have to rework their entire 2022-2023 season schedule around the World Cup, and clubs have already voiced their concerns about the prospective arrangements.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who represents 214 clubs in his capacity as the head of the European Club Association, warned that “The European clubs and leagues cannot be expected to bear the costs for such rescheduling. We expect the clubs to be compensated for the damage that a final decision would cause.”