I think the Qatar World Cup will be the best ever!

[Peter R]

it's just "cooler" to have an a/c unit...even if you are a "fan"

[Peter R]

"While the U.S. put together what FIFA called the most technically sound bid for 2022, Qataris and their proxies were quietly at work in the home countries of many of the FIFA executive committee members."

Quietly at work = bribery

[Gamma]

or it could mean quietly at work .......

[Zeppo]

Another article by the same author:

The Real Story Behind Qatar 2022

[Gamma]

so "quietly at work" it is?

[Dunny]

Qatar 2022 will rock world football but Sepp Blatter remains in charge


By Paul Kelso Football Last updated: January 8th, 2011
8 Comments Comment on this article

Qatar show little sign of being dominant force on the field (AP)

England’s world may have fallen in last month in Zurich, but events in Doha this week demonstrate that Planet Football has been profoundly shaken on its axis.
Fifa selected two new World Cup hosts last month, but it is the selection of Qatar for 2022 that has done most to alter the game’s world view, and prompt a major reputational challenge for Fifa.
The implications of this tiny, fabulously rich state’s victory in Zurich will resonate for a decade, both inside Fifa and around the sporting world as the disruption of a probable winter World Cup begin to bite.
For Fifa the impact could also be profound, as scepticism over the executive committee’s decision to come to Qatar is fuelled by the growing belief that the move to winter was a fait accompli, and the bid therefore a false prospectus.
Sepp Blatter is shrewd enough to realise this, though probably not to embrace the wholesale reform necessary to restore confidence.
Addressing a group of reporters at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha he made it clear he recognises the damage the decision has done, his demeanour suggesting that he is uncomfortable defending a choice most observers believe he did not support.
His proposal to address the credibility deficit, the appointment of a “council of wisdom” including senior figures from politics, finance and sport, may not convince many that he has the appetite for genuine reform, but he appeared in no doubt that Fifa faces a crisis of confidence.
Talking about his recruitment of a “compliance council” he said: “They will give a kind of overall credibility to Fifa. I am not only talking about the perception in the media but also inside our family that people aren’t happy or haven’t been happy with the decisions taken by the executive committee, especially over 2018 and 2022.”
Blatter said he was “sad” that Fifa’s reputation was so low in the public mind, but rejected the suggestion that the decision to come to Qatar, flying in the face of Fifa’s own technical report, had damaged its credibility.
His admission that members had been discussing the switch to winter even before the vote however only fuels scepticism.
He did acknowledge that Fifa was paying the price for a lack of firm action in the past, particularly over vice-president Jack Warner’s channelling of World Cup tickets through a family travel firm for an estimated $1m profit. Warner was warned over his future conduct but retained his place on the ex-co.
“With the case of Mr Warner, when it came up we had no instrument to deal with it, and that is why we took decision to have an ethics committee,” Blatter said. “You are right, it could have been dealt with differently if we had the ethics committee at that time.”
Blatter blamed many of Fifa’s problems on the governance structure, in which the President is elected by all 208 member associations and the executive committee, which controls all decisions, by the Confederations.
He even suggested attempts to cleanse the organisation had been opposed by the executive committee, and cited Mohammed Bin Hammam’s complaint that the compliance group had been proposed without consultation, as further evidence.
“At that time in the executive committee not everyone was happy we had the ethics committee. And you have seen the reaction of another group to the suggestion of the compliance group, to see what difficulties the chair has in dealing with such matters in executive committee.”
Blatter said he would consider proposing a change to the way executive committee members are elected, with only the six Confederation presidents automatically assured of a seat and the remaining 13 seats elected by the full Congress.
“I am sure the confederations will not be happy but we have to think about that. We have to think about another system. In such a big institution like Fifa… you need leadership and governance. The governance we have in Fifa is the executive committee, which is not elected by same entity that elects the President elected. That is why it is very difficult boring everyone together.”
Difficult it may be, but Blatter continues to play it to his advantage. On Thursday the AFC elected Jordanian Prince Ali to the post of Fifa vice-president, ousting South Korean Chung Mong-Joon, a persistent critic of Blatter, after 16 years at football’s highest table.
Prince Ali’s sponsor, the Kuwaiti head of the Asian Olympic Committee, immediately pledged the 25 votes that secured victory to Blatter in June’s Presidential election.
As well as removing Chung, a historic opponent, the result also dented Bin Hammam’s standing even at his moment of triumph. This week should have been a celebratory one for the Qatari AFC President, himself considering a challenge to Blatter in the forthcoming presidential election.
That ambition may be dented after Prince Ali won despite Hammam backing Chung. “You do not have to be a mathematician to realise that, when Mohamed Bin Hammam said he supported Dr Chung, does not mean he carries his own confederation, he did not carry a majority in his own confederation,” Blatter said. “Draw your own conclusion.”
There is only one, and it will disappoint reformers. Any prospect of change within Fifa in the next four years remains in the gift of Blatter. Even if Bin Hammam does mount a challenge, the president appears unassailable. Some things on Planet Football never change.