A Thousand Cuts For FIFA

Posted by coininfifa on April 29th, 2014

Despite warnings that the summer heat made awarding the 2022 Finals a high risk affair 14 members of the FIFA 14 Coins PC to believe Qatar’s claim that the stadiums could be air-conditioned. Qatar still maintains that it can host a safe event in June/July but now the non-believers are very much in the ascendancy.

The immediate reaction was to claim that money must have found a way into influencers’ bank accounts – how else could Qatar have won the vote? Disgraced former CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer took a different view. Blazer stated that FIFA had stared into the Abyss with South Africa 2010 but when it actually came off the powers-that-be started to believe that the World Cup Finals could be hosted anywhere. In other words a combination of euphoria, relief and a smooth visionary sales pitch from Qatar was enough to swing the vote.

Since the vote in December 2010 there have been frequent and recurring charges of votes for sale but to date no concrete evidence has surfaced. The ethics committee of FIFA continues to look at such allegations but American lawyer Michael Garcia and his team have found nothing of substance …….so far.

Australia was first out of the blocks in claiming that a change in the rules (switch of dates) should lead to, at the very least, compensation for the other four countries that bid for the right to host the 2022 Finals.

Australia is reputed to have spent $40M on their bid and it is fair guess that the USA, Japan and South Korea expended a similar amount. Take a number and pull up a chair Australia.

Fox Sports paid over $400M for the English broadcast rights in the USA for both the 2018 and 2022 finals. A move from the traditional World Cup Finals hosting months of June and July in 2022 could mean conflict with the NFL in North America. Fox and parent company News Corp. are not happy broadcasters and are not going to walk away without some form of compensation. Stay tuned for other squeaky broadcast wheels to join the chorus of discontent should the dates move.

The winter Olympics are normally held in February no matter whether they are hosted in the northern or southern hemispheres. The 2022 event has one confirmed bidder and ten other cities that have expressed significant interest. Due to the winter Olympics own climatic challenge it is difficult to see how – or why – the IOC would give up their February squatting rights.

The Premier League’s Chief Executive Richard Scudamore has been predictably vocal in his opposition to any change in the dates for the 2022 Finals. He seems to prefer to have players return for the new season burnt out (with summer temperatures touching 50 degrees it may be literal). Scudamore believes the implications of a date change would impact domestic competition for three seasons and would result in a drop in revenue.

Former Manchester United Chief Executive and now Football Association vice-chairman David Gill has suggested that the impact could be limited to just one season if affected parties were willing to give a little.

The Confederations Cup has become the test event of the World Cup Finals a year before the actual championship. What would happen to the Confederations Cup and would holding the event at any time other than June-July not automatically impact on other schedules?

The 214 member European Club Association (ECA) seems to be playing it coy. After a meeting in September the ECA championed further discussions between national associations, domestic leagues and players in regards to an acceptable solution.

However, the coyness did not stop Bayern Munich Chairman and ECA President Karl-Heinz Rummenigge expressing a preference for FIFA 14 PC Coins. ECA is the potential joker in this complex and evolving pack.