The choice of Russia as hosts for the 2018 sparked consternation in the press, much of which was concerned with broken promises made by FIFA executives to the competing England bid team, writes Alex Callaghan. Whilst the sour grapes were being thoroughly masticated, initially room could only be found for vague mystification at Qatar being awarded the tournament for 2022.
However, whilst debates as to whether a World Cup can be staged in winter currently dominate the public consciousness around this tiny gulf state, it is clear that there are far thornier issues that need to be urgently addressed.
Putting aside Qatar’s impossibly retrograde stance on homosexuality (and FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s shamefully glib take on the matter of homosexual fans attending the tournament), we also have a potential problem in the shape of 8,000 square miles of territory perched on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean: Israel.
Israel have been to the World Cup before, in 1970, and though they have not qualified since, failing to qualify for any further tournaments should not be viewed as an inevitability. Admittedly this came at a time when they were a member of the Asian Football Confederation, an organisation from which they were expelled. Since 1994 they have been members of UEFA, an arguably more competitive federation. Their record has not been bad; under Avram Grant, Israel finished qualification for the 2006 tournament unbeaten. Their quest to make Euro 2008 saw them accumulate as many points as England in Group E and only a point behind eventual semi-finalists Russia.
If you then pause to consider that Israel’s population is comparable to that of Slovenia and Slovakia combined – both of whom played at the 2010 tournament – and that in the last ten years Israeli teams have made the Champions League group stages four times, all of a sudden their national side looks a reasonable prospect. Currently, however, Israeli citizens cannot enter Qatar without permission from the Ministry of Internal Security.
Should Israel qualify for 2022, would they be refused entry into the country? No. The political fallout would be too much for Qatar to endure. In December 2010 Hassan Abdulla al Thawadi, chief executive of the Qatar 2022 World Cup bid, gave assurances that Israel would be welcome to take part should they make it through to the finals.
Many questions remain unanswered; for example, will Israeli supporters also be allowed in? What kind of travel restrictions may be imposed upon them? And, after the tragedy that befell the Togolese side at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and the farcical aftermath, what guarantees will be made about the safety of both players and fans? It is, after all, no secret that Israel has few friends on the Arabian Peninsula.
All this amounts to a significant amount of egg on the face of the FIFA executive committee. Much of the rhetoric emanating from Blatter espouses the benefits that staging a World Cup can bring to developing nations. This writer has no problem with acknowledging the improvements to infrastructure a tournament may bring to South Africa, Brazil or Russia; quite where oil-rich Qatar is located in this narrative remains moot.
Putting aside the politicking that goes into securing the World Cup, the only real justification of holding it in Qatar is that, well, it hasn’t been done yet. Blatter can now tick “hold World Cup in desert” off his bucket list. Of course, perhaps a willingness to grant the comprehensive tax exemption that FIFA demands from every host nation was also a factor. Maybe Blatter just liked the views from his hotel balcony.
What, then, could the consequences be for Qatar? They can hold firm and refuse Israeli players, officials and fans entry, thus making FIFA’s supposed insistence on political non-interference in football even more risible. This scenario is unrealistic, and would secure Qatar pariah status in the sporting community. Perhaps even worse, come 2022 we could see Qatari immigration laws temporarily relaxed - for the duration of the tournament, for example - thus constructing the world’s most expensive Potemkin village to date.
Of course, I do not suggest that FIFA demand immigration reform, thus further meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation; however, the decision to grant Qatar the World Cup should be reviewed well before the commencement of what could become the most reprehensible minstrel show in the sport’s history.
The Palestinian national team are regularly unable to compete in international friendlies because players are denied exit visas by Israeli authorities, harassed and detained by border guards or even murdered by the IDF (see: Tariq Al Quto). Forgive me if I am unable to shed a tear for those poor widdle Iswaelis who can’t go to the World Cup.