Philosofooty

The AFR team is sharing its diverse perspectives on the drama that unfolded yesterday in Switzerland in a series of posts throughout the next day or so. The series features perspectives from our writers who call places like Montreal, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, London, Manilla, Boston, and Lisbon home. We continue with the thoughts of Oliver Sparrow, a deflated England fan writing from London.

The tears have just about dried up, but the underlying feeling of deflation still persists. I was desperate for England to hold World Cup 2018, and despite the furore about the recent BBC Panorama programme and investigations into FIFA corruption by the British media, I still genuinely felt that England 2018 could have been a reality. How wrong I was.

With a measly two votes, England didn’t even make it past the first voting round. An incredibly polished performance from the likes of David Cameron, Beckham, Prince William and the quite brilliant Eddie Afekafe was widely rumoured to be a favourite of FIFA representatives, but it was not to be. Many expected it to be a straight shootout between Russia and England, but one can only imagine that factors beyond the England 2018 bid team’s control had derailed their campaign before they even started their pitch in Zurich yesterday.

However, now the decision has been made, I’ve been looking for the positives in the Russia bid that I had previously, and almost certainly unfairly, been denigrating. For one, the World Cup has never been there before, and I do enjoy football being taken to new places. Many England fans have been moaning that we won’t have had the World Cup for 52 years by the time 2018 comes around, but when added up, that will only be 13 World Cup finals. I could probably come up with another 13 countries that the finals could be held before I could justify England holding the competition again using solely that reasoning. It will also be a great opportunity for Russia to show the world that they are still very much a unified country, and still have the financial might and manpower to pull of great projects, even after the collapse of communism. Russians living outside Moscow will also believe that this is a good chance to spread some wealth outside the country’s capital city. New stadia will be built in cities far and wide, and hopefully this will bring some much needed financial stimulus to areas of Russia where there had previously been little tourism. Russia is also a country of rich football heritage, and Russia 2018 will be a brilliant opportunity to celebrate their football history, and future.

With the good, though, must be the bad. There various gripes I have with the bid. Having stadia in such disparate locations will present a real challenge in terms of travel. With infrastructure which is simply not up to the job at the moment, it is an absolutely monumental task to build adequate transport links across the giant country in only eight years. However, if there is a country that has the organisation skill along with the money to back it up, it’s Russia. I worry too about the lurking undercurrent of racism which still seems to plague the Russian game. I am aware that it is being perpetrated by a small minority of ‘fans’, but it is something that the Russian FA will have to go into overdrive to try and eradicate before 2018. No one wants to see any more incidents such as these. Another thing which has been plaguing my mind is the conspicuous absence of Vladimir Putin at the announcement in Zurich. Whilst David Cameron actually presented England’s pitch, Putin’s absence was widely considered a snub. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that the reason he did not show his face was that he already knew the outcome of the vote. Either Russia had definitely not won so there was no point showing up, or he already knew that they had been awarded 2018 and he could let Abramovich, Arshavin and the other Russian delegates enjoy the spoils of victory whilst he stayed at home sorting out domestic issues. Of course, this theory could well be a load of tosh, but it is something that the British media have also been picking up on this evening (even if it is The Sun and the Daily Mail…)

Qatar 2022 is an even more exciting prospect. Holding the World Cup in such a small country will be something totally unique. Teams will be able to stay in the same hotel throughout the tournament, and fans should find travel a lot easier and less time consuming than in Russia. There will also be some amazing new stadia. Money is not an object for the oil and gas-rich nation, and no expense will be spared in creating some of the most impressive stadia ever seen. Again, the decision brings the World Cup to a new territory and will be the first finals to be held in the Middle East. I have no doubt that it will be an incredibly exciting tournament and it is always a good thing to take the best competition in the World to new fans. Another unique facet of the Qatar bid is the promise to dismantle the stadia after the competition and rebuild them in different countries. I personally think this is a great idea as it is unlikely they would ever be used to their full capacity again after the World Cup has been and gone.

As with any bid, there are problems. The overbearing heat of the Middle-East will present their largest obstacle to overcome. They have promised to air condition all stadia to make them a comfortable place for fans and players alike, but it is a massive task. Also, all the brownie points of relocating their stadia are immediately scrubbed off when one thinks of the monumental amount of energy it is going to take to air condition entire stadia. Not so green after all… The transport infrastructure will also have to be vastly improved, but this should be achievable for a nation so small yet so rich, with 12 years to accomplish it. Many have also expressed cultural concerns about Qatar. It is a dry country, so the lager louts have been kicking up a fuss, but they have been promised that they will be allowed to drink in special fan zones, so that should satiate their thirst. On a more serious note, homosexual behaviour is banned in Qatar. This is a big problem for a forward-looking FIFA, and it doesn’t send a good message out to those campaigning for gay rights in football. Homosexuality is still a large stigma in sport, and the decision to hold the World Cup in Qatar drives yet another nail into the box that homosexuality is trying to break out of. Another issue is that Qatar doesn’t recognise Israel as a country. What will happen should Israel happen to qualify for 2022? Israeli citizens are banned from travelling to Qatar as it stands, as they are from most Gulf States. Even if Israel does not qualify, this is something that needs to be addressed as no nation’s citizens should be denied entry to a World Cup. There has also been much scepticism in world media and anger amongst rights groups about the treatment of foreign workers in Qatar which has been likened to modern day slavery. Perhaps with one eye on the World Cup, Qatar has been considering abolishing their controversial worker sponsorship system, and follow suit with Bahrain and Kuwait. This is something that can’t happen soon enough. As with Russia, there are many hurdles that need to be overcome if Qatar is to be a successful World Cup, but let’s hope that the power of football can change both countries for the better.