The last to know

The night was foggy and the environs of the Royal Bafokeng Stadium poorly lit.

We had just finished a nightmare journey to reach the England v USA clash at last summer's World Cup on-time, though little did we know the absurdly delayed drive to Rustenburg from Johannesburg would be as nothing compared to the never-ending story that was the trip back.

Two hours after the final whistle we were still waiting to leave the car park, or rather the strip of wasteland commandeered to house the many vehicles used by fans visiting the 42,000 venue; Rustenburg had no railway station.

What was FIFA thinking handing the World Cup to a place like this, I thought. A veritable nightmare for visiting fans, by some margin the most inconvenient of the six World Cup finals I had attended. Then I got my answer - a military helicopter, searchlights beaming through the gloom, hovered in to land. The doors opened and a posse of security ushered US Vice-President Joe Biden into the stadium.

Biden doubtless had a five-star experience of the World Cup like all FIFA dignitaries did, and the TV feed did its job in pumping the games into people's homes across the globe.

But what about the real fans, those of us who had shelled out to be there in the South African winter in person. Did anyone care about our experience of the World Cup?

Talking of winter, and in South Africa the thermometer dipped below zero on many nights, a winter World Cup in the Middle East in 2022 looks ever likelier now the International Players' Union has come out in favour of it.

FIFPRO has added to calls from Franz Beckenbauer and Michel Platini, endorsed by Sepp Blatter and Jerome Valcke, for the Qatar tournament to be shifted to the European winter months, presumably January when the African Nations Cup takes place to avoid that continent's oppressive summer heat.

"Tourists are advised not to travel to Qatar in the summer months," said FIFPRO's spokesman Tijs Tummers. "Inhabitants of Qatar leave the country en masse during this period."

Tummers went on to note how supporters would suffer in the 50C midday heat "The summer months in Qatar do not provide suitable conditions for a festival of football."

Did someone mention supporters? Those quaint old aficionados who pay an arm and a leg to support multi-million pound stars across the world instead of watching it at home on their i-Pad. Since when were they a consideration for the game's decision-makers in Switzerland?

South Africa was a challenge for them: The distances between venues was vast, the public transport next to non-existent and the road network wholly inadequate for a show of the World Cup's magnitude. The clogged one-lane highway in and out of Rustenburg will live long in this European fan's memory.

Brazil, the World Cup host in 2014, has equally vast distances and poor transport options compared to recent European and Far-Eastern host nations, plus a crime problem at least as worrying as South Africa's. 2018 host Russia has more enormous distances to cover in addition to a train network below Western European standards, problems shared by Euro 2012 hosts Poland and Ukraine. And then there is Qatar.

The fans, the lifeblood of the game after all, as it is they who provide the lion's share of club revenues in their ticket purchases, have become the last thought, if considered at all, by the game's decision makers.

What visiting this summer's World Cup finals, and witnessing Russia and Qatar win the right to host future ones confirmed to me was that TV rights, sponsor revenue, FIFA politics, moneyed suitors and geo-political pulls have left fans, the real ones that is, facing more mammoth journeys and myriad inconveniences in their unwavering, unchallengeable, yet increasingly unrequited love for the Beautiful Game.

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

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If FIFA can't stand the heat....

So Qatar is too hot in summer after all.

And at 40-50C in the shade, who can disagree? Even if the stadia are cool enough, the outside won't be, and the prospect of a million beer-hungry fans stumbling out into such a furnace in desperate search of a cool lager does not bear thinking about.

"I support definitely, definitely," Sepp Blatter said, "to play in winter here, to play when the climate is appropriate."

The FIFA President's support for a January World Cup in 2022 appears clear enough. The temperatures in the summer months in Qatar are far more oppressive than their anti-alcohol or anti-gay laws, that is for sure. Playing in the Middle East's winter makes sense therefore, when the thermometer rarely rises above 25c by day and has an average low of a pleasant 13C.

And Qatar has already successfully hosted big-name games of football outdoors at that time of year. But avoiding the sweltering summer and the need for expensive and unproven technology has a serious downside to it - a sandstorm brewing in club boardrooms across Europe all of FIFA's making and the spectre of an almighty club v country conflict on the horizon. Blackpool manager Ian Holloway, famous for his juicy quips to the press, was typical of the domestic reaction when he launched a fiery tirade at the possibility of the football season closing down for two months to make up for FIFA's initial error.

Holloway likened switching the World Cup to the European winter as akin to changing the date of Christmas.

"So we'll just change everything cos your weather's really hot," he said. "Brilliant! I mean come on, what's going on? What happened to the air-conditioned arenas. Bit too expensive 25 of them was it or what?"

It was Franz Beckenbauer who first publicly floated the idea of switching the month of the tournament, closely followed by nods of approval from UEFA President Michel Platini, FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke and then Blatter himself: This hitherto unthinkable idea now has legs.

FIFA's own technical evaluation of the hosting bids, even though it was blithely ignored by the Executive Committee, marked Qatar as "high-risk" on account of its hellishly hot summer - "a potential health risk for players, officials, the FIFA family and spectators".

As it stood, the arena temperature would still have only been 27C at its coolest. But clearly the assurances that (carbon-neutral) air conditioning, powerful enough to cool a dozen big stadia and presumably 32 more for the finalists to train in, will be ready in time for 2022, are seriously doubted in Zurich, only two weeks after they made the controversial choice of a Middle Eastern summer host.

Now the vote is over, Blatter has also mentioned moving the Qatar World Cup into other Middle Eastern countries, surely against the spirit, if not the rules, of the bidding campaign. While staging matches in neighbouring countries such as the United Arab Emirates would not be disastrous, the move from June to January potentially is as it places the international game in its most direct opposition yet with the clubs they have been trying to placate for the past two decades.

Clubs are so far aghast at the prospect of having their leagues shut down by FIFA for a two-month hiatus and watching their best players come back jaded and/or injured mid-season. The risk FIFA runs is rebellion against its plans from the big European teams, leaving the governing body to think the unthinkable, recall the 2022 vote and select the USA, the runner-up, as host instead.

A stand-off could increase the already floated idea of a breakaway from FIFA led by major European nations, or at the very least, herald big concessions in the form of exemption from friendlies for top players or compensation paid by FIFA to clubs for borrowing their star men for international duty.

Instead of global harmony appearing around the 2022 World Cup decision, awarding the tournament to Qatar has created global warming of a different kind, and there appears no ready solution besides cancellation of the hosting. It's another fine mess from Sepp & Co.

As Henry Winter commented today in the Sunday Telegraph:

"FIFA is not just lobbing a pebble into the club waters, but a huge chunk of granite hewn from the Matterhorn."



(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

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Blatter's Sexual Health Warning

Poor Sepp - maybe he's not the man to give out sexual health advice.

Aged 35 in 1971, Herr Blatter was elected President of the World Society of the Friends of Suspenders, a group of 120 men dedicated to reversing the march of tights (pantyhose) and bringing back garter belts for all women, a penchant which manifested itself again in 2004 when as FIFA President he called for women footballers to wear tighter shorts:

"Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so," commented Sepp without mirth.

Today he was forced to wade in to the homophobia issue surrounding FIFA's choice of two less than gay-friendly World Cup hosts, one of which forbids non-heterosexuality by law, and fell into the mire:

To audience laughter, Blatter announced -

"I would say they (gay fans) should refrain from any sexual activities."

He did go on to note the Middle East is a different culture, but one that is in the process of changing, with the implied hope fan sexuality will not be an issue in twelve years' time. It is hard to imagine Qatar will enforce any of its usual laws when the West visits en masse in 2022, but equally Blatter's statement implies a shameful appeasement with a medieval mindset.

FIFA has conducted a relentless 'Kick Racism out of Football' campaign, but is still shying away from a similar one to eradicate soccer's last taboo - homophobia. The Football Association likewise is looking for excuses, having produced but pulled an anti-homophobia video at the last minute. Unlike in many sports, football still awaits its first working player to come out.

"In football we have no boundaries," Blatter concluded. Just like sex then?

(c) Sean O'C0nor & Soccerphile

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The New World Cup stadia

BRAZIL 2014



RUSSIA 2018



QATAR 2022



-Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

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-Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

Ten ways to change FIFA

Now the whole world outside Russia and Qatar agrees that FIFA is bent and not fit for purpose, what do we do about it?

Former England international Viv Anderson was one of a number of voices this weekend to advocate withdrawal from FIFA and the establishment of a rival organisation. The Football Association did leave FIFA before, from 1928 until 1946 over a dispute over paying amateurs, of all things. And England missed three golden opportunities to win the World Cup.

The alternative to establishing a rival organisation is to reform FIFA from within, increasing domestic representation (only seven Englishmen work in FIFA's 34 committees at present), and urging a purging of the endemic corruption.

This will take time and hard work. But in a perfect world, I wish the following would happen tomorrow to the World Cup decision procedure:

1. Suspend Jack Warner, Issa Hayatou, Ricardo Texeira and Nicolas Leoz from the Executive Committee immediately and let an independent body investigate the serious allegations against them raised by Andrew Jennings, Espen Sandli & Togeir Korkfjord and the BBC. Suspend Julio Grondona until the Wall Street Journal's allegations are dealt with too. Allow this body to probe further allegations of corruption made by Mel Brennan, David Yallop and various media outlets. Sepp Blatter's anger at the "evil media" is an admission of guilt.
2. End the practice of concealing FIFA demands on potential hosts' governments. No nation should be bullied, as the Netherlands were this time, into becoming a temporary tax haven for FIFA.
3. Open up the World Cup vote beyond the 22 men on the Ex.Co. There are 208 FIFA member nations and until 1983 all had a say.
4. Never again schedule two hosting votes simultaneously - the potential for collusion was just too great, as Spain/Portugal and Qatar duly proved.
5. Make the ballots open and require voters to explain their decision to the press. Ensure every voter receives the bid books - only three requested England's 2018 presentation!
6. End this obsession with 'legacy' and 'new lands'. Create guidelines for deciding on the host which stress football heritage, existing ability to host the tournament and financial potential. It is ludicrous that bidders are being punished for having the best stadia and infrastructure already in place and that FIFA's own technical and commercial criteria (the Evaluation Reports and the McKinsey study) were blatantly ignored by the Ex.Co. No more than one out every three World Cups should be on virgin soil, not the three out of four we have at present. The game's heartlands deserve the lion's share because that is where football is most supported.
7. Impose financial limits on bids as political parties have in UK constituency elections. Russia outspent Spain/Portugal three to one and Qatar's largesse was well-documented.
8. Adopt the strict IOC rules on Olympic bid lobbying - no voter may holiday in a bidding nation, be approached outside of bidding conventions or even have a drink bought for them by a bidding representative.
9. Make integrity a bidding factor. Countries guilty of human rights abuses, money laundering & organised crime and restrictions on press freedom should not be rewarded with the world's biggest party.
10. Leave Switzerland for a more transparent country. FIFA should depart the land of secret bank accounts for somewhere which wants to engage with the world, preferably a small European Union nation like Belgium, Denmark or Luxembourg, where business and politics are more open and less shady. The whiff of corruption at FIFA H.Q. goes with the territory at present.

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

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Breaking down the World Cup voting

The fall-out from yesterday's double-shock in Switzerland continues after FIFA selected Russia and Qatar as hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

England were humiliated with only two votes, one of which came from their own representative Geoff Thompson, and Spain/Portugal, the favourites, were left scratching their heads after Russia romped home 13-7 in the second round.

2022 provided a bigger shock as, despite its small size and searing heat, Qatar beat the USA 14-8 in the fourth round of voting. Australia, once seen as the front-runner, crashed in flames with only one vote.

World Cup 2018
1st Round Russia 9, Spain/Port 7, Neth/Belgium 4, England 2
2nd Round Russia 13, Spain/Portugal 7, Neth/Belgium 2

World Cup 2022
1st round: Qatar 11, South Korea 4, Japan 3, USA 3, Australia 1

2nd round: Qatar 10, South Korea 5, USA 5, Japan 2

3rd round: Qatar 11, USA 6, South Korea 5

4th round: Qatar 14, USA 8

The identities behind the 22 votes are kept anonymous by FIFA, who used blank ballots, but it appears clear that Russia won by picking up two of the Low Countries' supporters, plus Geoff Thompson and England's other supporter, believed to be Junji Ogura or Issa Hayatou. Spain/Portugal had seven key backers but could not move up from seven.

The 2022 decision went two more rounds because South Korea maintained a core vote of five and Japan two, four of whom eventually transferred to Qatar, who actually went down a vote between rounds one and two but maintained a comfortable lead over the USA throughout.

Qatar, Japan and the Netherlands/Belgium all saw their support reduce between particular rounds, proving certain FIFA delegates changed their minds during the process, while only Spain/Portugal had an unchanging block of votes.

Qatar finished with three and Russia with four more votes than they began with, but the USA showed the most improvement across the decision process, increasing its votes by five between the first and final round.

We may never know which delegate voted for which country, but the breakdown could have been thus:

2018 - 1st Round
Russia - Mutko, Blatter, Warner, Blazer, Salguero, Beckenbauer, Anouma, Lefkaritis, Hayatou
Spain/Portugal - Villar Llona, Leoz, Grondona, Abo Rida, Bin Hammam, Makudi, Teixeira
Netherlands/Belgium -D'Hooghe, Chung, Erzik, Platini
England - Thompson, Ogura

2nd Round
Russia - Mutko, Blatter, Warner, Blazer, Salguero, Beckenbauer, Anouma, Lefkaritis, Hayatou, Ogura, Chung, Erzik, Platini
Spain/Portugal - Villar Llona, Leoz, Grondona, Abo Rida, Bin Hammam, Makudi, Teixeira
Netherlands/Belgium -D'Hooghe, Thompson

2022 - 1st Round
Qatar - Bin Hammam, Leoz, Grondona, Teixeira, Abo Rida, Makudi, Villar Llona, Platini, Hayatou, Anouma, Lefkaritis,
South Korea -Chung, D'Hooghe, Erzik, Blatter
Japan - Ogura, Thompson, Mutko
USA - Warner, Blazer, Salguero
Australia - Beckenbauer

2nd Round
Qatar - Bin Hammam, Leoz, Grondona, Abo Rida, Makudi, Villar Llona, Platini, Hayatou, Anouma, Lefkaritis,
South Korea -Chung, D'Hooghe, Erzik, Blatter, Texeira
USA - Warner, Blazer, Salguero, Mutko, Beckenbauer
Japan - Ogura, Thompson

3rd Round
Qatar - Bin Hammam, Leoz, Grondona, Abo Rida, Makudi, Villar Llona, Platini, Hayatou, Anouma, Lefkaritis, Ogura
USA - Warner, Blazer, Salguero, Mutko, Beckenbauer, Thompson
South Korea -Chung, D'Hooghe, Erzik, Blatter, Texeira

4th Round
Qatar - Bin Hammam, Leoz, Grondona, Abo Rida, Makudi, Villar Llona, Platini, Hayatou, Anouma, Lefkaritis, Ogura, Texeira, Chung, Erzik
USA - Warner, Blazer, Salguero, Mutko, Beckenbauer, Thompson, Blatter, D'Hooge

As for the motives for voting, that debate is only just beginning...

-Sean O'Conor

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Japan's techno-dream for 2022

2022 World Cup decision: Japan's quest
Soccerphile speaks exclusively to JFA Chief Junji Ogura

Few expect either Japan or South Korea to win the right to host the 2022 World Cup, it is true.

Despite excellent bids, the fact both nations staged the tournament as recently as eight years ago appears to be their biggest enemy, despite the fact that equally shows they are safe pairs of hands.

Up against the pulling power of the USA, the virgin soccer territory of Australia and the wow factor of the Qatari bid, not to mention South Korea's noble aim of uniting their peninsula, an arguably vainglorious wish in the light of this week's military exchange, Japan has had to come up with a good reason to host another World Cup twenty years after their last one.

Their proposal hinges on that Japanese emblem - technology, but the ideas are genuinely exciting, involving a smart card for match tickets, transport tickets and money, and setting 3-D viewing zones up all over the world free of charge. Japan's world-famous tech firms are on board including Sony, JVC and Panasonic, and the innovations, still in the developmental stage, would constitute a new, fourth revenue stream for FIFA after ticket sales, sponsorship and TV rights. The aim is for FIFA to embrace and control the technology, rather than letting others do it for them.

Soccerphile sat down with bid leader, Japan Football Association Chairman and FIFA Executive Committee member Junji Oguru to discuss his nation's audacious World Cup bid for 2022:

Soccerphile: Why should Japan host the World Cup again?
Junji Ogura: We enjoyed the 2002 World Cup so much and it was very successful. Not only every Japanese person enjoyed it but people from all over the world loved our hospitality. I remember how people from Kyushu took to Cameroon and how some of them traveled to South Africa to cheer them again! So, after such a happy experience in 2002, we said right after the tournament we should do it again.

Japan has the stadia but it is still a developing country with football so we can become a true football nation. Then there is the legacy. Technology is one of our best tools. We have discussed with Sony and other companies how to develop new technologies. That is why we are very confident.

Has football grown in Japan since 2002?
Yes, we now have a J-League 2, a second division, and the interest in football in general has increased with more players and fans. We have 38 professional clubs. We are the premier football nation in Asia.
Japan is using technology as the centre of its bid but isn't technology universal?
There are what, nine other bidding countries, but I could not find they are proposing anything to do with technology. We have the companies here and it comes directly from Japan - we are proposing things for the future - 3D vision without glasses in a few years for instance, which will be very popular in a few years. We can develop these ourselves in Japan with a serious programme.

The JFA originally planned to host the Cup again before 2050
And win it too, hahaha!

So if you don't win 2022, you will be trying again as soon as possible?
Oh yes, that is right, we are committed and ready.

Who do you think are your major rivals this time?
Every bidder is very strong. The USA has its major stadia, Australia can say they have never had the World Cup in Oceania. Qatar can say the same about West Asia.

What was your reaction to China's announcement it was aiming for 2026?
Oooh, China. I have friends in the Chinese Football Association and they did not say anything to the Asian Confederation about that. Some of the AFC members were angry. It was bad for the AFC's image.

Surely China was always going to bid sooner or later?
Yes, China is a big country with a big possibility of hosting the World Cup. China claim they never said they would not, but we need unity amongst the Asian members.

Oguru is a jolly and animated man, exploding some Western stereotypes about the inscrutable Asians. His eyes light up as he speaks with real enthusiasm about his country's bid. He is a man who truly loves football, and broke into a childish laugh when I brought up his love of West Ham United and Bobby Moore.

At the mention of China's announcement that it wishes to bid for 2026, a darker look came over him, a look of fear and of having been let down by a close friend. FIFA rules forbid consecutive hostings by one confederation, and it is felt China's lure will influence some Ex.Co. members to skip the Asian bidders for 2022 as a result.

The feeling remains that Japan will not host 2022, but their bid was brave, innovative and valid, and more proof that the country takes soccer seriously and is becoming a major player on and off the field of world soccer. Japan, football and technology will be together for years to come.

Gambare Nippon!

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

photos by Iman Simon - imansim@gmail.com
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2018 Cup race leaves sour taste

On Thursday afternoon we will know the venues for the 2018 & 2022 World Cup Finals and a sorry 21-month multinational spat will blessedly come to an end.

What FIFA had wished would be a smooth process has degenerated into an unseemly mess. As wealthy nations squabble for victory, a public tired of perceived corruption in football politics sigh as their suspicions are reinforced. Whoever wins the 2018 race will not remove the whiff of a grubby power-grab of claim and counter-claim, backroom deals and illicit bribery that has dogged this latest World Cup bidding war.

Don't kill the messenger. The press has every right to shine a light anywhere on FIFA as much as on any form of government: Quis custodet ipsos custodes...FIFA is a nation-state with a global influence approaching the Vatican's, given the way world leaders genuflect before President Sepp Blatter when he visits and leave their domestic problems behind to jet into Switzerland for last-minute lobbying. Yet transparency before the law has been slow to catch up and the continuing presence of the likes of Vice-President Jack Warner at high table and the closed vote for the hosting decision do not help clean up the general consensus that FIFA is far too secretive for such an internationally pervasive body.

The UK media, sensing a hefty, hard-to-miss quarry, has trained its guns on FIFA Headquarters in Zurich and scored some hits, notably bringing down Reynauld Temarii and Amos Adamu, removed from the 24-man Executive Committee who select the winning bids.

Yesterday the BBC broadcast persuasive allegations that three other Exec. Com. members - Issa Hayatou, Ricardo Teixeira and Nicolas Leoz, had trousered kickbacks from FIFA's now-collapsed marketing company ISL. England's bidding team had feared the show would derail their bid at the last minute, but in reality the impact is unlikely to tell, given the whole organisation has been under the spotlight for a while and the murky goings-on with ISL, highlighted by investigative reporter Andrew Jennings and others already, date from 1995.

The 2018 race has been particularly unseemly, with Russian bid leader Alexei Sorokin openly sledging against his rivals in breach of FIFA rules, claiming London had a problem with crime and juvenile drinking. Qui accuse, s'accuse...

Spain/Portugal have seen CONMEBOL come out in support of them before the vote and were cornered with stories they had struck a deal with 2022-bidders Qatar, allegations bolstered by Asian Football Confederation Mohamed Bin Hammam's confirmation of an "excellent relationship" which was "not breaking any rules." Iberian bid boss Miguel Angel Lopez in turn accused The Football Association and US Soccer of a similar pact and criticised English hotels.

England had a great bid on paper with no obvious drawbacks but has had to contend not only with its seemingly perennial lack of influence in FIFA corridors (as Jack Warner reiterated during the bidding process), but its own media's lust for blood: F.A. Chairman Lord Triesman resigned in ignominy after being secretly taped claiming Spain and Russia were working together to bribe referees at the World Cup and form a mutual voting pact.

FIFA evaluated England's and Spain/Portugal's bids to be the lowest-risk and England's bid was also judged to be largest potential money-spinner by management consultants McKinsey, in a FIFA-commissioned appraisal. A diplomatic trident of Prime Minister David Cameron, soccer superstar David Beckham and the recently engaged HRH Prince William will be unleashed on the 22 delegates on Thursday morning in the hope of persuading them to forsake their alliances and back the home of football's bid on its merits alone.

The least controversial of the four bids and another perfectly valid one, Belgium & the Netherlands', is perhaps not coincidentally the least likely to win. Despite Johann Cruyff's electrifying presence, Ruud Gullit's enthusiasm and the greenness of the bid, elimination in the first-round of voting looms.

The sour grapes can be tasted already, the recriminations as sure as night follows day. As when Germany 'stole' the 2006 hosting from South Africa at the last minute, expect a burst of 'we wuz robbed' outrage and trans-European finger-pointing.

It has been an unpleasant and dirty trek to the final vote in Zurich, and for those of us who wish football were a beautiful game both on and off the field, Thursday cannot come quickly enough.

2018 bidders - Netherlands/Belgium, England, Russia, Spain/Portugal.
2022 bidders - Australia, USA, Qatar, Japan, South Korea

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile
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