FIFA's decision to holding the World Cup in the Middle East never seemed like a good idea. Now, we're getting an idea of how bad it really was. Some excerpts from an article by Yahoo! Sports' Martin Rogers:
Yahoo! Sports: Middle East Warning Signs
Qatar is in the midst of hosting the 2011 Asian Cup, that region’s biannual continental championship. With 11 years to go before the greatest show in sports lands on Qatar’s doorstep it is far too early to call this a trial run. But it is a verifiable indicator of what to expect all those years from now.
Fourteen of the 24 matches in group play saw attendance of less than 10,000. Lowest of all was the 2,022 who saw the contest between Japan, one of the pre-tournament favorites, and Saudi Arabia, which shares a border with Qatar just 50 miles from where the game was staged...That the average attendance has just managed to creep above 10,000 is largely thanks to the bigger audiences that witnessed the Qatar team’s matches, and those of India, which has a large expat presence in the capital, Doha.
Assurances of air-conditioned stadiums were presented in an attempt to assuage concerns about the temperatures, and since the vote, the likelihood has emerged that the tournament will be shifted to winter time to reduce the impact of heat on the players and fans.
Like I've said before, it's FIFA's problem now.A further helping hand was given by FIFA’s internal decision – not revealed until after the process had been completed – that both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments should go to countries that had never previously staged the event. For 2022, that stiffed the United States, Japan and South Korea, effectively leaving Qatar in a straight fight with Australia, which was taken care of in the first round thanks to strategic voting that left it eliminated.
Yahoo! Sports: Middle East Warning Signs
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
