Sepp Blatter finally calls Qatar WC a "mistake"

[Nokhodi]

Qatar will write a nice big fat cheque and all will be forgotten.

[Damavand]

Screw Qatar and Screw their filthy money. Those low lives have to learn that they cannot buy everything with money.

[Kiarash]

[persian_pooya]

Sepp Blatter finally calls Qatar WC a "mistake"

The world cup seriously needs to be boycotted if it's not taken from Qatar.

[Kiarash]

The world cup seriously needs to be boycotted if it's not taken from Qatar.

I am already boycotting it for sure.

Any real passionate football fan should be doing the same. The footage I posted is simply disturbing and sad.

[O-ZoNe]

Sorry if repost:

What happened to the Qatar World Cup's cooling technology?
By Jon Kelly BBC News Magazine

A Fifa taskforce has recommended the Qatar World Cup takes place in November and December 2022. Previously it was claimed pioneering cooling technology would allow it to happen in the summer. So what has changed?

When the shock announcement came through that a tiny gulf emirate would host the world's biggest sporting tournament, there was one question everybody asked.

How would they cope with the heat?

The World Cup is typically held in the middle of the year, when Qatar is searingly hot. Average high temperatures in Doha in June are 41C (106F) and it can get close to 50C.

These are far from ideal conditions in which to hold a football competition. Fifa's own evaluation of Qatar's bid to stage the event said the heat "has to be considered as a potential health risk". A technical report described a summer tournament as "high risk".

But the organisers said they had a solution. During the bidding process, Qatar promised advanced air-conditioning technology that would cool stadiums, training pitches and fan zones to 23C. A 500-seater prototype stadium called the Qatar Showcase, designed by British firm Arup, was built to demonstrate how the system might work.

It helped secure the bid. And whenever scepticism was expressed about the technology, which has never been used on such a scale, Qatar's World Cup organising committee insisted the games would go ahead in summer, chilled as promised.

Now, however, a Fifa taskforce has recommended that the event takes place in November and December. In a statement, it cited the "consistently hot conditions" that prevail in the peninsula during the summer months.

With major European league seasons thrown into chaos, it's the latest scandal to hit a tournament already bedevilled by allegations of corruption and abuse of migrant workers.

It raises the question - if the cooling technology will be so effective, why is the tournament being moved?

Even though the new air conditioning systems are no longer needed, the hosts say their development will go ahead regardless. Hassan Al Thawadi, head of the Qatar 2022 World Cup organising committee, has insisted: "Whenever the World Cup is hosted, we're still moving ahead with the cooling technology for the legacy that it offers."

There has long been scepticism about whether it could be done.

In 2011 architect John Barrow, who is designing the Sports City stadium in Doha, one of the proposed World Cup venues, said he was "fighting hard" to persuade organisers to drop its cooling technology plans which he said were "not good from a long-term sustainability point of view".

The world players' union FIFPro also called for the tournament to be moved to winter on health and safety grounds.

Qatar's Showcase had, however, offered a demonstration of how it could be achieved, albeit on a much smaller scale.

It used solar panels outside to collect energy from the sun. This was used to power an absorption chiller to chill the water, which was kept at 6C. The chiller's output was stored using "phase change materials" and used to cool air before it was blown through the stadium, maintaining pitch temperatures below 27C. Perforated seats allowed the cooled air to flow and a canopy roof rotated to provide shade.

"Basically, you use the heat to produce cold," says Graeme Maidment, professor of air conditioning and refrigeration at London South Bank University. "It's doable. But it's going to be very, very expensive. It's going to use lots and lots of kit."

The difficulty in doing this on a bigger scale would come when it came to meeting Fifa's environmental requirements, Maidment says. The stadiums might be carbon neutral in terms of the energy used, he adds. But it would be much more challenging to achieve carbon neutrality when producing all the equipment required is taken into account.

In 2013 the organisers said they would either create a central solar power farm or have separate ones built at each of the event's 12 stadiums. Air would be pumped to the "spectator ankle zone" and the back and neck area of the seats, Qatar 2022's technical director Yasir Al Jamal promised.

Scaling up the miniature showcase into a series of major stadiums would be an ambitious proposition. Maidment says: "It's a big project but engineers are used to dealing with big projects."

But it doesn't appear to be the feasibility of the proposed cooling system, or otherwise, that convinced Fifa that a summer event was undesirable.

In fact, even without air conditioning, Qatar's heat is "something that the vast majority of players could adapt to", says Carl James, who works at the Environmental Extremes Laboratory run by Brighton University's sports science department.

Well-conditioned athletes are, in theory, capable of competing at high temperatures, he says. The Marathon des Sables is held in 50C heat in the Sahara Desert. The "Heatstroke Open", which claims to be the world's hottest golf tournament, takes place in similar conditions in California's Death Valley. The 1934 World Cup final between Italy and Czechoslovakia in Rome saw temperatures surpass 40C.

They would have to be given time to acclimatise and would need to be carefully monitored by medical professionals, James says - although the football wouldn't be much of a spectacle, with players making quick, short passes and avoiding long runs to preserve energy. It would effectively be football in slow motion.

"But the bigger safety concern is for the fans," James says. Outside the stadiums, it would be much harder to maintain the safety of thousands of spectators - many of whom would be drinking alcohol, thus dehydrating them further - in the scorching heat.

It seems this perspective was shared among Fifa's upper echelons. "You can cool down the stadiums but you can't cool down the whole country," said the organisation's President Sepp Blatter.

Fifa medical chief Dr Michel d'Hooghe has said he did not doubt the Qataris could organise a tournament where teams could play and train in a stable, acceptable temperature, "but it's about the fans". He added: "They will need to travel from venue to venue and I think it's not a good idea for them to do that in temperatures of 47C or more."

Despite the organisers' insistence that their air conditioning plans will go ahead, exactly what lies in store is unclear. Arup, which is providing consulting services for Qatar 2022's stadium cooling design, refused to comment when approached by the BBC.

Either way, it's unlikely to be the last row in what is shaping up to be the most controversial World Cup in history.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31608062

[OFFSIDE_1]

14 reasons the Qatar World Cup is going to be a disaster

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/14-reas...174400894.htmlIt's like building 10 Cowboys Stadiums in Dallas and only using them for two weeks. Now there are reports that they're scaling back the number of total stadiums to eight amid rising costs.

14. They probably won't sell beer in the stadiums.

[KC McElroy]

Let the boycotts begin....

http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/...nal-for-dec-18

FIFA's executive committee has decided that the 2022 World Cup final will be held on Dec. 18, world football's organizing body confirmed on Thursday.

The climax of the winter World Cup will take place a week before Christmas. The final, set for a Sunday, is also Qatar's National Day, a celebration of independence.

The 2022 World Cup is to be played in the winter to avoid the fierce heat of June and July, and it will be a shortened tournament over 28 days instead of the usual 32.

UEFA had pushed for the final to be as late as Dec. 23, but that option attracted opposition from FIFA members who feared it would cause problems for fans and players getting home in time for Christmas, as well as affecting club football's festive programme.

The Dec. 18 decision will allow traditional Boxing Day club matches to take place in England.

UEFA president Michel Platini said the decision was acceptable -- but warned that FIFA must now re-arrange the calendar to protect up to four international dates that might be affected.

"Dec. 18 is a good date for the final -- perhaps Dec. 23 would be too late if you are trying to get all the fans back on Dec. 24," Platini told Press Association Sport. "Dec. 18 is fine for UEFA -- we can accommodate any changes to the Champions League.

"But FIFA must now protect the international dates for the national associations -- there are four international matches that could be affected and those are the lifeblood for the national associations.

"FIFA must look at the international calendar and make sure those dates are protected for the national associations."

A FIFA task force last month recommended that the 2022 tournament should take place in November and December.

The task force, led by Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, ruled out the possibility of playing the tournament in May and said a clash with the Winter Olympics, held in January, would be undesirable.

May had been the preferred option for European leagues, but Sheikh Salman stressed at the time: "All parties have to compromise -- not just the Europeans."

Hassan Al Thawadi, the head of the Qatar 2022 World Cup organising committee, had said the country was ready to host the event "at any point in time."

FIFA's director of communications Walter De Gregorio said: "The ExCo decided today that the World Cup as proposed by the task force will be played in November-December, with the final on the 18th of December.

"Based on the proposal of the task force, we're going to try to play in 28 days. That's the decision in principle. Now we have to see with the international match calendar how this might be possible."

He added: "This is for us, an important step. Finally, we know the end of the tournament. It's a Sunday and, by the way, it's the national day in Qatar, so it fits perfectly. You have enough time to do your Christmas shopping."

Meanwhile, FIFA's executive committee in Zurich has chosen France to host the 2019 Women's World Cup over South Korea.

[PSGman#19]

As much I hate these fake countries, it would be interesting to see a World cup at this time of the year, players will be fresh, climate will be nice and european league will be forced to adapt their schedule (which are not very good so far)

[KC McElroy]

As much I hate these fake countries, it would be interesting to see a World cup at this time of the year, players will be fresh, climate will be nice and european league will be forced to adapt their schedule (which are not very good so far)

Or boycott the tournament as they had hinted they would.

[OFFSIDE_1]

http://screamer.deadspin.com/report-...the-1704086341

Report: Sepp Blatter Too Afraid Of The FBI To Enter The United States

[OFFSIDE_1]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/former-...7852--sow.html

Former FIFA VP Temarii banned 8 years for taking money

ZURICH (AP) -- FIFA has banned former vice president Reynald Temarii for eight years for taking Qatari powerbroker Mohamed bin Hammam's money to pay legal costs in a corruption case linked to the 2022 World Cup vote. Temarii breached five sections of FIFA's ethics code when he accepted 305,640 euros ($343,000) from Bin Hammam in January 2011, FIFA said on Wednesday in announcing the ethics committee's verdict.

By agreeing to fund Temarii's legal fight against FIFA in the weeks before the World Cup vote, Bin Hammam ensured the Oceania Football Confederation could not take part. It was mandated to support Australia, one of Qatar's four rivals in the 2022 contest.

[AminGP]

So if their VP took bribe what makes you think Platini or Blatter didn't? Also since their VP did it then it they should definetly move it to another country. Don't you think?

[Nokhodi]

No wonder FIFA awarded the TV rights to Fox instead of ESPN. ESPN will never get any World Cup rights after this as long as Blatter is around.

Also in other news in our beloved AFC, the secretary general has been suspended. His name is Alex Soosay. With all due respect to countries like Malaysia and Sri Lanka what the hell have they done that they have so many important positions in AFC?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/asian-f...0347--sow.html

[OFFSIDE_1]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/68ae88e...ld-cup-in.html

Soccer's World Cup in Qatar Likely to Have Pakistan Army Guard

"Qatar is looking to Pakistan for military support at the 2022 soccer World Cup, hoping to tap the ally’s experience in fighting terrorism.

The Gulf country’s prime minister met Pakistan’s army chief in Qatar Tuesday and expressed interest securing assistance for the 32-team competition, Pakistan’s army said in a statement. The support will include training and even the provision of military personnel for the month-long event.

Pakistan’s proposed role is part of a discussion of wider military cooperation between the Muslim-majority countries. With the World Cup attracting as many as a million fans, and more than a billion watching on television, security is one of the biggest concerns for organizers.

Qatar’s government Communication Office didn’t immediately comment on the matter.
Sri Lankan cricket team members are taken aboard an ambulance on March 4, 2009 shortly after flying home from Pakistan where the Sri Lankan team was ambushed by gunmen just before entering a cricket stadium in Lahore.

At home, Pakistan’s military has been fighting Taliban insurgents and other Islamist groups for the past two decades. Most international cricket teams stopped touring there following an attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009. A 2015 visit by the Zimbabwe squad was marred by a suicide bombing outside one of the stadiums.

Qatar’s leadership has pledged to spend $200 billion on transforming the nation ahead of the first World Cup held in the region. The tiny Gulf emirate in 2009 surprisingly defeated bidders, including the U.S., to host the event.

The army’s presence is the nearest 198th ranked Pakistan is likely to get to a World Cup appearance. Its only other connection to the event is through its ball-making factories, which have provided equipment for previous tournaments.