TheShed

This from the BBC this morning. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44994041

What really caught my eye was the penultimate paragraph,

"Qatar is embroiled in a diplomatic dispute with some of its neighbours, which perhaps explains the timing of this leak. And with Fifa President Gianni Infantino known to be keen on a 48-team 2022 World Cup, this could lead to fresh pressure being applied on Qatar to agree, and to share their tournament with other countries in the region."

Does this make everything from the last 13 months fit into place?

DXBtoDOH

Had to laugh at this:

"The alleged aim was to create propaganda to give the impression that a World Cup would not be supported domestically. The Qatar tournament organisers deny the allegations."

Qatar arguing that the US and Australia wouldn't be able to support the WC over Qatar? Really? Qatar?!

Everyone knows Qatar had no business winning the World Cup. It's so bleedin' obvious and a disgrace. But I don't think it'll be moved from Qatar by this point. Too much money at stake by this point.

Miss Ann Thrope

I generally subscribe to the cock-up rather than conspiracy perspective on history and I think the GCC handbags dispute falls very definitely into the former. The world cup is incidental, not a driver, though now key to how it plays out. I read it as follows, putting together several different pieces, and bearing in mind I am leaving the region imminently and thus a little less discreet in my opining than I might normally...

Ginned up by Trump and Kushner, buzzing with the energy from that magical orb and with uncle MBZ egging him on, crazy bear thought he could get a quick concession from his little neighbour on ikhwan funding and muzzling Jazeera. That would have definitively shown that he was the GCC boss. Given all the tortured family history with Saudi and potential implications for re-igniting a bloody civil war in the ruling family, the other princeling was over-ruled in his (maternally influenced) instinct to compromise, as he had previously, and the hardliners regained control of the family and the country. Hence he inadvertently became a bumper-sticker meme and the matter, which was supposed to be resolved in a few days, now looks like surviving the next millennium...

The world cup is leverage in the ongoing pissing match. I doubt the other GCC countries have any real interest in hosting a world cup but will be using it to exert every possible embarrassment and humiliation on Qatar in the meantime. What is interesting now is that you have a suddenly empowered FIFA basking in the triumphant glow of a stunningly successful Russian WC with Infantino being propelled from faceless bureaucrat to global prominence (with some inevitable uncomfortable questions). He clearly would love to skip straight to the North American WC but instead has to pick through this mess that is in part his doing. In 2022 he faces a likely disaster that will massively overwhelm all of the unexpected credit from Russia '18. In the end, I think factors other than the GCC hissy fits will determine what happens, but I think there is a real question about whether Qatar '22 can go ahead. Maybe some kind of face saving sharing with Turkey (and even the UAE) might be an option?

DXBtoDOH

To quote someone in the bar (in Doha!) after France won, "too bad it's eight years till the next World Cup."

I suspect many people already don't have expectations for the Qatar 2022 Cup. The surrounding embargo countries will likely keep the embargo going till after the WC because that's one way to embarrass Qatar. Before the embargo began the real party was always going to be in Dubai with people flying over for the days they had tickets for the matches but staying in Dubai the rest of the time. And many of the visitors would have been other GCC nationals. But now they're closed off from Qatar. Changing the schedule to November/December also complicates things.

And I'm not sure if Qatar really understood what it got itself into for wanting to host the WC.

jam25mack

A "FIFA Investigation" ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.... a bent organisation looking into a bent bid.....

scrubbedexpat141

It's coming home.

Miss Ann Thrope

You might be right this time though given how hated the FA are among their sister football governing bodies (a lovely bunch all around), that may be another lot of wishful thinking...

scrubbedexpat141

*Rolls eyes at the bullshit*

However, Gareth Southgate apparently made his team introduce themselves from 'The English FA' instead of the old fashioned "hello, we're from THE FA, give us your land and have some blankets and rum as a thanks".

The humility of him and his squad at this world cup was fantastic, refreshing and something as a national side we've been missing in droves.

Miss Ann Thrope

Entirely agreed on Southgate and co who were a notable contrast to how the FA have conducted themselves, particularly the arrogant hypocrisy around the bidding for '18/'22, which has apparently left a lingering bad taste and may still stymie any "rescue" attempt by England. But it would be hard to find a group of people whose disdain could be more justifiably worn as a badge of honour than the collection of corpulent mendacious thieves running the world's football associations.

scrubbedexpat141

Yeah I agree but what's more important is that it's going to come home, it's just delayed.

Autonomy

Just curious if anyone reads The Intercept... A quite insane article today....

scrubbedexpat141

THanks for the tip, just read it. Insane is the perfect word.

DXBtoDOH

It would have been something to tell future progeny about how I survived the great Qatar invasion of 2017. A bit disappointed it didn't happen. No great snaps of Saudi tanks rolling down the streets of Doha. No evacuation while clutching on to my cat. Shit really would have hit the fan because the rest of the world wouldn't have supported it and been furious about it and then what would have happened next?

That's the weird thing about this blockade. They never gave thought as to what would happen next under the various scenarios and now no one knows what to do.

scrubbedexpat141

There's been plenty of time to work on that bit though. I reckon it's more orchestrated than we give credit for.

Boomhauer

What only matters is if Uncle Sam says "ok, go ahead". Tillerson said No.
It must really irk the Emiratis to see Qatar host the US base and get the WC.