As the qualifiers rest for the remainder of 2011 for the 2014 Brazil World Cup (a tournament facing its own host of problems), the eyes of the football world continue to be placed on the future in Qatar.
The controversy has not ended for the small Middle Eastern nation hoping to take a huge step as the first Arab nation to host a tournament of this caliber. Now it is Australian football chief Frank Lowy suggesting the tournament will not happen at its planned location.
Lowy has a clear bias, as Australia received only one vote in the bid process and was largely humiliated — after the South Africa World Cup, Australia is the only continent not to have hosted the tournament. Lowry believes media and public pressure will be too much for the controversial World Cup bids, including Russia 2018, and FIFA will have to give in, at least on the latter World Cup.
For an organization increasingly clouded by its corruption, FIFA's removal of Qatar may hurt its direct interests, but in the long run would help alleviate some of the pressure. With the tournament over 10 years away, the other bid countries would have more than enough time to step in and prepare the tournament.
It wouldn't be the first time a tournament was replaced. In 1986, Mexico replaced Colombia due to the political problems in the country. This was different, of course, as Colombia voluntarily returned the rights to the bid.While removing Qatar from 2022 seems a catharsis, it may also lead to a new precedent that could encourage future corruption in an organization that seems reluctant to control itself. Imagine if you could get double the payoffs by giving the tournament to one country, then changing it to another years later.
Whatever happens with Qatar, the damage has already been done and there seems no conceivable way of removing the shadow it has created over all of FIFA's actions.
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Photo via Terra Sports and The Associated Press
