On the eve of the greatest tournament in the sporting calendar kicking off, there is a huge amount of apathy about the World Cup from all quarters.
There is no denying that it is in the wrong place and at the wrong time, two huge issues for a tournament that is always looked forward to for so long by football fans and all that are involved in the sport.
The guilt among football fans is pretty simple. Ever since the competition was awarded to the Arab State of Qatar, there have been so many negative reports about so many things it is often hard to keep up.
Even this week, those stories continued and that is not to mention everything that has been said about the beliefs and laws in a country that is located on a peninsular in the Persian Gulf.
Should fans feel guilty for looking forward to the World Cup?
Certainly not.
Fans can of course have a conscience but the award of the competition to Qatar was never in their hands. That was all down to the grubby fingers of Fifa. Fans can and will have their say but ultimately, the show goes on.
It is Fifa that need to have something that has a passing resemblance to a conscience, but we should probably not be holding our breath. They state that the game should be shared with all corners of the world, and there is nothing wrong with that at all. It is the way that they have gone about it with these last two awards. The values of the World Cup dipped when it was awarded to Russia, and they descended even lower when Qatar were named as the hosts to follow.
No country is perfect but with the 2026 World Cup being a combined hosting effort by the USA, Canada and Mexico, it does allow us to breathe a little easier at least. However, there is still time for Fifa to astound us once again, with 2030 still up for grabs.
They continue to defend their selection (even if Sepp Blatter has recently admitted it was a mistake to hand it to Qatar), as Fifa president Gianni Infantino did just that with an incredible insulting speech on the eve of the tournament.
The apathy leading into this tournament is not surprising. Not only does Qatar hosting leave a very unsavoury taste in the mouth, but moving it from the summer months to the end of the year is completely alien to us.
The impact of that has meant squads taking part in the tournament have been flying out less than a week before their opening games with hardy any time for friendly matches, which has always been the staple diet of a World Cup build up.
Another contributing factor is that it has also been difficult to focus on a World Cup until domestic football paused and it has only been this week that we have only really come to the realisation that it is time for a World Cup.
Even now there is not the furore and clamour that we expect to see for such a prestigious competition, something that is exceptionally sad to see, but I am hopeful that will change once it begins.
It is right to question Qatar as they have put themselves in the spotlight for the world to see. Everything about the country has come to the fore, and they perhaps did not expect quite the negativity that has been directed at them, but we must remember that this is the fault of Fifa and not the fans.
We should be allowed to enjoy the football and continue to question a governing body that continues to shame many of us that simply want to love and enjoy the beautiful game.
1 comment
Well said.
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