Controversy has followed Sepp Blatter around constantly of late. There were rumors of a scandal during his last re-election. In fact, The Council of Europe assembly committee has called for FIFA to investigate Blatter's 2011 re-election for whether he used his position to create an unfair advantage against an opponent. Sepp Blatter was again involved in controversy when Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid was accepted. Many people in the world soccer were upset at this decision because of Qatar being chosen over countries such as the U.K. and U.S. Again, there were allegations of underhandedness and implications that Qatar had paid to have their World Cup Bid become successful.
Sepp Blatter is now calling for the Qatari World Cup to be held during the winter instead of the summer due to avoid the region's extreme heat. The Problem is that Europe's biggest leagues are active during this time of year. The English Premier League, in particular, does not include a winter break during their season as the Spanish league does. Supposedly, when the Qatari bid was accepted, it was stipulated that Qatar would ensure the extreme hear would cause problems for the tournament. As the World Cup is always held in the summer, it was assumed the solution would not be to move the tournament.
This bid was going to be a problem from the moment it was made. First of all, there was the bid from Britain. The World Cup has not been held in the UK since 1966. So as soon as they were not chosen there was always going to be trouble. However, if Qatar did "purchase" their bid then the English FA do have legitimate complaints against FIFA's handling of this ordeal. US Soccer also has reason to be frustrated. While it was not so long ago that the World Cup came stateside, US Soccer is at a crucial point in its development. The sport is at its most popular point in the nation's history and a successful World Cup bid could propel the sport to the next level domestically. Australia and Japan were also considered but alas the bid was given to Qatar. Qatar is a tiny nation with a population of less than 250,000. Foreign workers actually outnumber native Qataris. It is one of the Arab oil nations and tops the list of the world's richest countries constructed by Forbes Magazine. Soccer or Football is the popular sport. Mr. Blatter argues that the ability to hold the World Cup should not be restricted to European Nations. This is not exactly relevant as the World Cup has been held in Asia, South America, Central America and North America. Still that is not the problem with holing the biggest sporting event in the world in Qatar. While Qatar certainly has the funds to support the tournament, its climate and size raise serious problems to bringing the tournament to its soil. FIFA's solution of moving the tournament will only cause more problems.
It was just announced today that that UEFA (The governing body of Soccer in Europe) officially voted to move the 2022 World Cup to the winter. This is the only solution if FIFA plan to go ahead with a World Cup in Qatar. However, these issues provide much cause for FIFA's leadership and decision making to be examined. All I can say is that it is probably good that Sir Alex Ferguson has retired because it would not have surprised me to see him attempt to keep his players out of the tournament.
Committee Calls for Blatter investigations - http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/committee-calls-for-investigation-into-sepp-blatters-unopposed-fifa-reelection-7543693.html
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