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So many hours in dancing lessons to produce this one đ
Catch up with @SportzfanRadio podcasts until we return in 2011!
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So, too 2022âŚ.
Millions of football fans around the world are still wondering how Qatar ultimately won the rights to host the 2022 World Cup. Yet in the end FIFA was seduced and âsoldâ by Qatarâs promise of a high-tech tournament.Â
I always maintained Australia was arguably punching above its weight in trying to secure the hosting rights to 2022, yet I also consistently argued we had a solid bid and our real and only rival, and favourite, was the United Sates of America. Exactly how the tiny Emirate state which has a climate conducive to hell on earth and its capital, Doha, is according to Lonely Planet, âthe dullest place in the worldâ secured the rights over the mighty United States is about as impressive and moreover, believable as me getting lucky with Megan Gale.
And Jennifer Hawkins.
On the same nightâŚ..
Not only did the win leave me breathless, but more so, the gravity of same – 11 votes in the first round to the United Statesâ 3âŚ.14 votes in the fourth round to the United Statesâ 8!
Some of the reasons why I was, and will continue to be shocked by the Qatar win include:
-Heat – the average temperatures in June and July are a whopping 41 and 46 degrees celsius, respectively;
-Potential terrorist attacks/threats;
-The fact there will be ten stadiums within a 25 kilometre radius of Doha which was deemed incapable of hosting the (2016) Olympic Games only last year; and
-Restrictions on the consumption of alcohol.Â
To counter these problems Qatar has promised, amongst other things:
-Airconditioned stadiums which will be solar powered and therefore, carbon neutral. What effect will airconditioning have on the âballâ?  It may make the Jabulani (which was used at this yearâs last World Cup and branded by many as like playing with a beach ball), appear ânormalâ?!; and
-Fans will be able to drink alcohol in specially designed areas called âfan zonesâ. Will Doha, I mean Qatar, have room to fit these fan zones? Will they be air conditioned too?!
Iâll believe it when I see it.Â
For now, it is a fictional tale.Â
Just like Qatarâs bid video which was largely set in the future and the country shown as it âmightâ be in 2022.  Â
The abovementioned concerns are shared by many, including FIFA. In fact, Qatar received the worst technical report of all the bidding nations from FIFA (for instance, FIFA labelled the punishing heat âa potential health riskâ) and was the lowest ranked by FIFAâs own independent inspectors.
Yet FIFA still awarded Qatar the World Cup!
In the words of Paul Dalligan, âI have now seen it allâ.
So, too the conspiracy theoriesâŚ..Iâm no investigative journalist but the following just doesnât wash with me:
-How secretive was the voting when Qatari state owned broadcaster, al-Jazeera reported the result before Sepp Blatter opened his envelope and informed the world? And what of Qatari officials who were reportedly seen embracing one another and appeared relaxed in the lead up to same whilst Frank Lowy looked like he needed a yearâs supply of Gastro Stop to curb his anxiety?
-What did Mohamed Bin Hamman say to Reyanld Temarii (the Oceania member who was suspended from voting for his part in an undercover newspaper sting) when he met him in Kuala Lumpur last week and shortly thereafter, Temarii stated he would proceed with his appeal, thereby allowing Oceania not to be represented in the ballot? Lest we forget that Temarii was quoted as saying he would have voted for Australia. To add salt to the wound, Hamman supported Temariiâs decision (to proceed with his appeal). Â
-The fact the Qataris were able to sponsor the Confederation of African Football Congress on 29 January 2010 and in doing so secured âexclusiveâ rights to make presentations to African delegates, including FIFA executive committee member, Issa Hayatou. Does that name sound familiar?! If not, read my last blog! In short, he has been accused of accepting bribes in the past! Australia, and the other 2022 bidding nations, could only attend the event as âobserversâ and could not organise press conferences.
Which brings me to my final pointâŚ.
The integrity of the World Cup bidding process has been damaged and the system of bidding within FIFA ranks must change.
Transparency is needed.Â
In awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar (and the 2018 World Cup to Russia) does FIFA really care about the fans who have made the game what it is today? It would appear not. FIFA does not appear concerned if a supporter is subjected to a violent racist attack in Moscow or another dies of heat exhaustion whilst playing, âLetâs find the nearest watering holeâ in Doha. I have no doubt that any of the other bidding nations would have delivered a better experience for the football fan than the eventual winners.
The âbeautifulâ game and its loyal fans, stands to lose. Â
Mark âThe F Wordâ Fiorenti
“And the host of the 2018 World Cup isâŚ.Russia…
And the host of the 2022 World Cup isâŚ.Qatar”
 When the abovementioned hosts were announced just after 2am last Friday morning, I no longer needed my shot of espresso to wake me up. Rather, I needed something to drown my sorrows.
If that wasnât enough, I became nauseous when I learnt:
I can read the headlines alreadyâŚ. FIFA president Sepp, or should I say Gall, Blatter is remembered as the man who took the World Cup to Eastern Europe and the Middle East (along with Africa).Â
What wonât be widely reported is that Qatarâs victory gives him a reprieve, for had the World Cup not gone to Qatar, Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed bin Hammam (Qatarâs bid chief, no less) would have allegedly challenged Blatter for the FIFA presidency. Â Blatter will now serve a fourth term as FIFA president.
So Hamman gets the glory of winning the World Cup for Qatar (a nice ego check) and Blatter gets to keep his job (and leave a âlegacyâ behind).
Nice wok guys â ego and political aspirations first, most logical choice and delivering fans a better footballing experience, a distant second.
To 2018âŚ.
Russia won the vote in a landslide victory in as early of the second round of voting, whilst England, a favourite, was miraculously sent packing after securing only two votes!
Nevertheless, in the weeks leading up to the vote, Blatter himself stated, âEngland can organize the World Cup tomorrowâ boasting of its numerous world class stadia and the necessary infrastructure to deliver the worldâs biggest sporting event.
And what of RussiaâŚ? FIFAâs own inspectors graded the bid as a âmediumâ operational risk and did not appear concerned by:
I can only guess FIFA didnât appreciate Englandâs media recently uncovering new evidence about bribery claims regarding four of the men who voted last Friday morning. Three of those men, Cameroonâs Issa Hayatou, Brazilâs Ricardo Teixera and Paraguayâs Nicolas Leoz were accused of accepting bribes in the 1990âs and the fourth, CONCACAF President, Jack Warner was treated to a renewal of old allegations from earlier this year when he allegedly sold thousands of World Cup tickets on the black market for personal gainâŚ.but more on the issue of bribery and these shady characters, namely Hayatou, in Part 2âŚ.
Itâs a travesty to think that the country which gave the world the beautiful game and continues to give so much to the world through its highly successful league – the most widely followed in the world, no less, scored so miserably in the voting last Friday.Â
England must now wait in excess of 60 years before football comes home.
Iâm all in favour of FIFAâs legacy argument and desire to sail into unchartered waters, but in order to move forward one must also acknowledge and pay respect to our past. Further, a nation should be awarded the World Cup on its respective merits.
England would have been a logical, fair and timely choice.
It appears reputation means nothing in FIFAâs murky corridors of power.Â
Mark “The F Word” Fiorenti
Apologies to fans of Sportzfan Radio but the Panel will be taking a well earned break this Sunday whilst Southern FM has maintenance performed on its transmitter.
Fear not though as the best sports radio show going around will be back Sunday 29 August 2010 from midday til 2.00pm on 88.3 Southern FMÂ talking all things sport.
The autopsy has been conducted, the eulogy delivered and the culprits drawn and courted so now itâs time for Football Federation Australia to move on and recruit our next national team coach.
The likely replacements include Paul LeGuen, Sven Goran Eriksson, Carlos Alberto Parreira and Marcelo âEL Locoâ Bielsa.
Prior to assessing the credentials of these candidates, I should say that the Socceroos prefer to play a confident, attacking, proactive style of football – one that reflects our true sporting culture. We witnessed the benefits of this style of play under Guss Hiddink at the 2006 World Cup. These playing characteristics obviously affect the selection of coach. Further, the coach must instil the players with technical qualities and believe in the youth of our proud nation.
Now for the candidatesâŚ..
Paul Le Guen
Le Guen had successful coaching stints at French clubs Lyon and PSG and Scottish giants Rangers. He recently resigned from his post as the national team coach of Cameroon following his sideâs inglorious exit from the World Cup after losing all three of its group matches. Further, and despite boasting the talents of players such as Samuel Etoâo and Alex Song, Cameroon were the first team officially knocked out of the 2010 World Cup.  The abovementioned results speak for themselvesâŚ.
Sven Goran Eriksson
Erikkson enjoyed an extremely successful tenure as a club football manager in the Swedish, Portuguese and Italian leagues from 1978 to 2001, most notably with Italian club, Lazio. In the period 2001 to 2006 he coached the England national team. Despite having coached many of Englandâs âgolden generationâ of players, Eriksson failed to take England beyond the quarter final stages of both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and most notably, failed to engineer a win over a ten man Brazil side in the 2002 World Cup quarter final. Further, Eriksson had a disastrous and short stint as the manager of the Mexican national team â in fact, immediately after he was sacked in April 2009 the Mexican fansâ association held a âvictory rallyâ attended by approximately 30,000 angry supporters! In short, Eriksson has been unable to replicate his club football success on the international stage. Finally, he would cost a pretty penny.  In my opinion, it would not be money well spent.Â
Carlos Alberto Parreira
Weâre getting warmer nowâŚ.
Parreira has enjoyed a distinguished coaching career. He coached Brazil to victory in the 1994 World Cup, 2004 Copa America and the 2005 Confederations Cup. Further, he is one of only two coaches that has led five national teams to the World Cup: Kuwait in 1982, United Arab Emirates in 1990, Brazil in 1994 and 2006, Saudi Arabia in 1998 and South Africa in 2010.Â
Nevertheless, and somewhat surprisingly, he failed to take Brazil beyond the quarter final stages of the 2006 World Cup. This, despite having attacking talents such as Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Adriano and Robinho at his disposal. Further, and like Eriksson, he will not come cheap and frankly, I would prefer seeing Football Federation Australia investing the money in grassroots football and unearthing the next Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill. God knows we need more of themâŚ.
So that leaves the madman, Marcelo Bielsa.Â
Bielsa coached the Argentine national team from 1998 to 2004 and enjoyed mixed success. The team exited the 2002 World Cup at the first round but were runners-up at the 2004 Copa America and won the 2004 Olympic Games.  Bielsa is the current coach of the Chilean national team and it is here that he has truly worked wonders. Under his guidance the team has undergone many historic firsts, including their first win over Argentina in official matches and beating Paraguay away from home for the first time in nearly thirty years. Further, Bielsa fast tracked many young talents throughout Chileâs qualification campaign and employs an attacking brand of football – Chile scored the most goals in the South American qualification stages of the World Cup.Â
Bielsaâs relationships with the media are also good.Â
His interviews are stimulating and he has been known to field every last question from the assembled media at his press conferences. Further, he once famously stated:
âEvery section of the media should get the same attention from me, from the capitalâs most prominent TV channel to the smallest newspaper in the provincesâ.
A refreshing change from âPimâs and (very) dryâ who, amongst other things, publicly smashed the A-League and later, rather than backing away from his comments reportedly remarked, âIâm Dutch, weâre honestâ.
Bielsa is reportedly paid $1.5 million per annum to coach the Chilean national team – a figure less than what Football Federation Australia paid the man who couldnât get and/or afford a decent haircut. Â
There are increasing suggestions Bielsa will leave his post now that Chile has exited the World CupâŚ.
As Deborah Harry once sang, âI want that manâ.
Mark âThe âFâ Wordâ Fiorenti â discussing all things concerning the World Game.