Qatar delegate blasts FIFA

FIFA’s Qatar delegate has angrily refuted suggestions the 2022 World Cup could be staged in January or shared among the Gulf nations.

Mohamed Bin Hammam, who was among 22 executive committee members to vote on the winning bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments last month, rounded on FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA boss Michel Platini for weighing in ‘prematurely’ on Qatar’s capabilities as hosts.

FIFA’s decision to award the 2022 Cup to Qatar, a tiny Middle Eastern nation that suffers from extreme heat in June and July, was greeted with derision by many.

Cracks began to appear in FIFA’s ranks shortly before the Asian Cup, when Blatter conceded that the greatest show on earth might be moved to Qatar’s winter – posing a significant interruption to European league schedules – to avoid the oppressive summer.

Platini added his voice to the concerns over Qatar’s ability to carry the tournament alone, suggesting a Gulf World Cup shared with neighbouring countries.

But Bin Hammam has poured scorn on both ideas, calling them premature and without basis.

“I believe Qatar can stand alone and organise the competition by itself,” Bin Hammam told Sky News.

“And I’m really not very impressed by these opinions to distribute the game over the Gulf or change the time from July to January – it’s actually premature, you know, it’s people’s opinions and they’re just discussing it on no basis or no ground.”

“It’s not up to one, two or three members of FIFA to talk about changing the time without getting the real stakeholders’ opinions.”

“We are not interested – we are very happy and we are promising the world that we are going to organise an amazing World Cup in June and July.”

Bin Hammam is expected to run for FIFA President when elections open in May, and his contradiction of Blatter is almost certainly a challenge to the incumbent’s authority.

The 61-year-old laid down his manifesto for a ‘more transparent’ FIFA, suggesting that the world game needs to look outside of Europe for its next president.

“It’s an organisation which is more than 104 years old,” Bin Hammam said of FIFA.

“We should modernise ourselves in such a way as to reflect the real stakeholders – member associations, leagues, clubs, players, coaches.”

“A lot of things could be done. Maybe the actual administration can do that, they have to commit themselves to doing that.”

“The structure (as it is now) is not helpful or useful for our world.”