Qatar to spend staggering £134 billion on 2022 World Cup

[GlennB]

Earlier in this thread, I was asked why Qatar was the prima facie worst pick for the World Cup.

A couple of weeks ago...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24023651

And now...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24160879

I don't particularly care whether it is played in summer or winter, but the simple fact that FIFA awarded the World Cup to Qatar when their ability to host it at the customary time had not been demonstrated and was hand-waved away with promises of air-conditioned stadiums suggest to me that [scurriculous allegations coming up]the FIFA execs coke-addled brains were dazzled by the large bribes they were presented on a platter of high-class hookers. [/scurrilous alegations]

Worth resurrecting. Now it has been conceded that it's just too damn hot to play there in summer and it's been proposed to switch it to Nov-Dec, which will shag many of the European league schedules, and others.

 

[malicus]

Worth resurrecting. Now it has been conceded that it's just too damn hot to play there in summer and it's been proposed to switch it to Nov-Dec, which will shag many of the European league schedules, and others.

What a ****in' farce. Corruption and corporate ******** gone wild.

 

[Information Analyst]

What a ****in' farce. Corruption and corporate ******** gone wild.

But that nice Mr Blatter said everything was OK...!

 

[Caper]

My brother just finished teaching in Qatar. Said the foreign labor gets treated like dirt (not professionals like him) said the law was that contsruction had to stop when temperature reached 35 degrees C.... It never reached higher the 34.

 

[Spindrift]

My brother just finished teaching in Qatar. Said the foreign labor gets treated like dirt (not professionals like him) said the law was that contsruction had to stop when temperature reached 35 degrees C.... It never reached higher the 34.

It's okay, it's a dry heat.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/07/qatar-will-spend-200-billion-on-the-2022-world-cup/

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs...aggering-134-billion-world-cup-101315417.html


Holy cow.

I only need a tiny bit of that money for my high speed rail.

And should any tiny nation like that every expend this amount of money on something so useless down the road?

It's their money to spend as they wish.

 

[theprestige]

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/07/qatar-will-spend-200-billion-on-the-2022-world-cup/

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs...aggering-134-billion-world-cup-101315417.html


Holy cow.

I only need a tiny bit of that money for my high speed rail.

And should any tiny nation like that every expend this amount of money on something so useless down the road?

I feel like there's a California HSR joke in here somewhere.

 

[angrysoba]

I feel like there's a California HSR joke in here somewhere.

It's their money to spend as they wish.

If they want to fritter away all their money on bribes lining the pockets of corrupt organizations it's up to them. The same goes for Qatar.

 

[epeeist]

It greatly disturbs me that so much focus is on the money and heat, and not the enforced labour (i.e. immigrant labour with employers retaining passports etc. and not free to leave and problematic safety conditions and deaths).

See e.g. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/revealed-qatars-world-cup-slaves (that story though a couple of years old also includes a link at the end to the "official response" to the story).

 

[TriangleMan]

My brother just finished teaching in Qatar. Said the foreign labor gets treated like dirt (not professionals like him) said the law was that contsruction had to stop when temperature reached 35 degrees C.... It never reached higher the 34.

Your recollection (or your brother's) of the temperature is incorrect, I don't recall the exact number in the law but it's somewhere in the mid-40s so he probably meant to say 45 degrees. If it was 35 then construction would cease for 6 months of the year.

The "so it never reaches higher than 1 degree below the law" tale is commonly told here. Unfortunately I don't know how accurate it is as I don't know how many times work in the summer afternoons had ceased.

It's okay, it's a dry heat.

Actually it isn't. Qatar can get quite humid in the summer, which makes it worse.

 

[TriangleMan]

It greatly disturbs me that so much focus is on the money and heat, and not the enforced labour (i.e. immigrant labour with employers retaining passports etc. and not free to leave and problematic safety conditions and deaths).

While it is good that there are more reports about this in media the unfortunate truth is that many people seemed concerned only because of the World Cup.

These problems have occurred for a long time in all of the Gulf Countries. Groups like Human Rights Watch have been pointing out these problems in places like Dubai for years (for example, here is a 2006 report) but it has largely fallen on deaf ears. While many individuals in the West are concerned about this issue Governments and corporations have ignored it, flocking to the region to set up shops and 5-star hotels, get construction and energy contracts, and organize other lucrative ventures. Heck, there's recent allegations that Tony Blair has been cuddling up to the big bucks from the Gulf.

Western companies, taking a page from the garment industry, outsource or sub-contract everything to protect themselves from liability, thus raking in the profits from the labour while expressing shock when it's exposed how the workers are being treated. Here's a recent example.

Carillion says it is "deeply concerned and surprised" by our findings and will be "conducting an immediate review of these claims to establish the position and take appropriate action".

Yes Carillion, do that review. I mean it must have taken the BBC, like, hours to figure out what was going on.

But why just care about those 2022 World Cup workers? Why not all of them? Why not the other Gulf countries where similar problems are occurring? Like I said I'm glad there's some international pressure to help workers but I can't help but wonder if it's more about slamming Qatar then actually caring about the workers themselves, and it is sad of me to think that way. Anyway I hope it leads to changes that help the workers.

 

[Octavo]

See also the South Africa vuvuzela WC recently.

Are referring here to corruption and bribery or are you implying that FIFA made a mistake by giving the WC to South Africa in 2010?

In a December 2010 Quality Progress, FIFA President Blatter rated South Africa's organisational efforts a nine out of 10 scale, declaring that South Africa could be considered a plan B for all future competitions. The South African Quality Institute (SAQI) assisted in facility construction, event promotion, and organisations. The main issue listed in the article was transportation.

 

[fuelair]

But that nice Mr Blatter said everything was OK...!

While emptying his blatter all over the fawning reporters' faces.