i have no doubt about their stadium and facilities, for me the WC will be down if the host is weak team, at least we can consider South Africa as a good team, they even play in past WC, but Qatar football team ....

i is butthurt the moment they announced mother russia will host 2018.

i mean wtf? Theatre of Dreams,wembley,Old Trafford,Emirates,st james' park,white hart lane.....hell even pride park(derby county home stadia) is good enough to stage any world cup match

at least qatar(as an AFC member) can host 2022 wc.i expect japan/korea but they already done so in 2002

This stinks of corruption. Putin didn't even bother to show up did he? I think Russia's apppointment will go down easier. I mean they have a professional league and have qualified for the World Cup numerous times. They have churned out several World Class players beginning with the legendary Lev Yashin. The downside is that travelling will be chore for fans especially during the knockout stages. The distance between Moscow and St. Petersburgh for example is 435 miles! I'm pretty sure they'll increase the number of flights between venues during that time but at what price I wonder? Thought that Spain and Portugal would have been a good choice.

Speaking about price, how much do you reckon it will cost a fan to live in Qatar for the duration of the World Cup? Russia has a huge landmass but Qatar is the direct opposite, comprising of only 1 city, Doha. They have half the population of Wales ffs. Can you imagine the traffic? They don't exactly have a rich football history either. There are huge social economic factors to consider. The fans contribute greatly to the vibrant colours at atmosphere at the World Cup, the pretty lasses in particular. So what now? No more pretty women in skimpy attire especially in that bloody heat? What about gay players or fans? What about Jewish fans? Heaven forbid (quite literally eh?) that Israel should qualify. Where does one get a cold beer to combat the sweltering heat? There aren't any pubs around and you'll have to be pretty darn rich to get into one of those exclusive hotel lounges. Speaking about the heat, it goes up to 50 bloody degrees now and in 12 years time, who knows how high temperatures will soar in light of global warming? Air-conditioned stadiums? Sure, how many Earth Hours will we need to make up for this? More negatives than positives if you ask me. Sepp Blatter and FIFA are a joke.

Quite excited about the prospect of watching the match in Qatar. I have family living there, I hope they are still there in 12 years. I bet the stadiums they're building would be amazing.

Japan's bid was pretty wicked though, 3D hologram projecting the matches in real stadium all over the world would be totally boss!

Whats a world cup without the latinas shaking their.. err.. head? lol....
but, i duno man, islam country like Qatar for sure will raise up rages in Israel.. Havent FiFa considered about that? I mean, this is not a small matter. These are matter causing war in the world. Who knows, FiFa trying to be hero to stop the conflict. by football lul

You sure? I thought host is automatically qualified?

one another problem is tht qatar population is only 1.5m so i doubt the stadium will be full.

only 1m came to SA so total=2.5 and not all of qatar people will go, and there will be 112 matches to play and each myt have 60,000

60,000 X 112 =6,720,000 where will qatar get t 6.7m people to watch the game unless the stadium will be small

NO WAY will a World Cup be held in january. What, all major league paused for World Cup? or resume, and let 10 of their 1st team players go for World Cup? 1 for African Nations Cup, and a few for this coming Asian Cup already leave premier league managers fuming, a january World Cup will cause a World War 3!

Like i said the main problem is heat, but doesnt mean its a joke. Dont tell me just because its not ideal, World Cup would never ever be played in Arab soil? For all you know they might build a giant glass dome within the 30km stadium radius, which is fully airconed anything can happen in the next 12 years, so we just wait patiently. Cant use the scenario now to predict 12 years from now.

I've hit the report button twice already for post no.25. Hopefully mods will delete it soon.

With FIFA's history of corruption allegations, it really won't be a surprise. I'm personally pro bringing football to new nations but I like looking at an employee's CV, I think you need the proper credentials. Between themselves, Holland and Belgium already have world class facilities and stadiums. Holland have a rich history in the World Cup despite not winning one and have churned out legendary players like Johan Cryuff, Ruud Gullit and Marco Van Basten. Visiting fans will settle in easy as they are a popular tourist destination. The point I'm trying to make isn't that Qatar is a bad choice by itself, it is just a boggling choice given the other candidates.
With the money they have at their disposal, I've no doubt that there will be world class facilities up by the time 2022 comes around. Money however doesn't address the cultural divide and I'm interested to see what compromise will be struck. Who knows? Maybe fans will stay home, preferring instead to watch it on telly?

I agree that it should be judged on merit which is why I find Russia and more so Qatar to be doubvious choices. Who knows? I may be wrong but we've to wait a decade to see how it pans out. I personally think that countries shouldn't be picked based on purely on their financial clout but also footballing legacy. I understand Africa's selection as teams like Cameroon, Senegal and South Africa are regulars now. Cameroon even beat Argentina and England on their debut. Don't know what Qatar has done in that aspect.

haha i think the qatar will record the least tourist visiting in world cup history just wait in 12 years n my wish shall come true haha no europeans r capable 2 bare the heat of more than boiling water in arab world like qatar n that is the reason the attendance will drop down big time

Written with just a touch of sarcasm.

Don't recall any major controversies, certainly not on this scale. It terms of money being put to better use, hosting the World Cup does cost a fair bit but you'll also have a never ending stream of sponsors lining up at your door step wanting to be involved in the biggest event on the planet. Bear in mind that as a sponsor, you don't just get exposure during the tournament but also in qualifying games and campaigns leading up to them. FIFA themselves dump in a pretty sizeable amount. I'm not sure what the final figure is but South Africa 2010 was expected to bring in $2.2 billion pounds in revenue. FIFA themselves dumped in excess of $600 million pound in funding. Yes it does take a lot of money to host a tournament of this magnitude but it's like some Chinese wedding dinners, you stand to make it back with some profit. In the case of the World Cup, it's a lot of profit. Don't also forget that industries like tourism will flourish after so there are long term benefits as well. Another big contributing factor was the use of a short term policy by FIFA which states that the World Cup hosts should be rotated amongst football confederations. At the time, 5 African nations put in their bid with South Africa finishing top followed by Morocco.

I don't know how Qatar plans to make a profit given that they've pledged US$ 50 billion to upgrade their infrastructure. It clearly isn't about profit.

The reaction to Qatar 2022 is indeed negative. Do a quick google search and you'll see what I mean. No point on going into details again. Scroll back a couple of pages and you'll see valid points have been raised.
I'm not sure how possible this is. It's going to be a big ask. It would mean every major league in the world rescheduling. Not only will it affect league games, what about transfer windows? Clubs usually do a great deal of shopping after the World Cup and this will mean transfer windows being extended.