2022 World Cup won't be played in Qatar: FIFA exec
Scorching temperatures - not allegations of rampant corruption - will keep Qatar from hosting the World Cup in 2022, a FIFA executive said Monday.
Theo Zwanziger, an executive committee member, said 'I personally think that in the end the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar,' where summer temperatures normally go over 104 degrees.
'Medics say that they cannot accept responsibility with a World Cup taking place under these conditions,' he told Reuters. 'They may be able to cool the stadiums, but a World Cup does not take place only there.'
The former head of the German football association, Zwanziger added that putting fans and players in a climate that they aren't accustomed to could be 'life-threatening.'
'Fans from around the world will be coming and travelling in this heat and the first life-thretening case will trigger an investigation by a state prosecutor,' he said. 'That is not something that FIFA Exco members want to answer for.'
The oppressive heat notwithstanding, FIFA's handling of Qatar's bid to host the tournament has been heavily scrutinized since it was announced that the oil-rich nation would host in 2022. An ethics probe was launched into the voting process, not only for Qatar, but into Russia's bid to host in 2018. The United States entered a bid to host the event in 2022.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said earlier this year that it was a mistake to choose Qatar in the first place and said the tournament would be moved to winter. Meanwhile, former New York prosecutor Michael Garcia's investigative report into the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has been filed, and a British politician has asked for a copy of the report to be provided to England's Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The report will not be made public, according to FIFA, and on Friday Garcia made it known that he thought that was a mistake.
'I think that is a disservice in many ways because people are skeptical and want information,' Garcia said at a conference in Zurich.
FIFA's independent ethics judge Joachim Eckert said at the same conference that he doesn't expect to have his verdict ready until early 2015.
British MP Damian Collins said he believes Garcia's report may provide evidence of criminal activity.
'FIFA seems to believe it is a self-governing body that operates outside the jurisdiction of international and national law-enforcement agencies,' Collins wrote in a letter to to SFO director David Green, the Attorney General and Solicitor General. 'I do not believe this is the case and that if it holds information that indicates that offences may have been committed, this must be shared with the relevant law-enforcement agencies.'
The Qatar 2022 bid committee is facing claims of corruption after the Sunday Times alleged in June that former FIFA vice-president Mohamed bin Hammam paid soccer officials around the world in return for support for the bid. The Qatari bid committee denied all allegations of wrongdoing. Garcia interviewed more than 75 witnesses in the course of his investigation, and has recommended further action against individuals and made proposals for future bidding processes.
In regards to Zwanziger's comments, FIFA said that he was merely expressing his own opinion, not those of the entire committee.
'He is expressing a personal opinion and he explicitly says so,' a FIFA spokesperson told Reuters. 'We will not comment on personal opinion.'
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