I agree. Panorama and co need to keep up their good work now and have an open season on Fifa. I'm very glad England didn't get this, but I do find it galling they only got two votes despite having a 100% technical bid, ready-made infrastructure (except for building new stadia for Nottingham and
Plymouth) and fanbase and all the rest of it. Russia I can just about believe could be legit, but I fear there could be some seriously uncomfortable coming up thanks to the rampant racism that no one seems to be bothered doing anything about - one top club, possibly CSKA, once claimed how proud they were to have no black players, and that they would never sign any. And that's the clubs - the fans...
On the other hand, Qatar stinks. Not least the way it trounced all the others in the voting - what sane system or people would allow it to win? Utterly ridiculous - how can a football tournament be sensibly played in a desert in the summer, 50C in the shade? Let alone the 14th century attitudes towards intimacy and homosexuality. or even the alcohol ban? I almost applaud FIFA for being so brazen with their corruption on this one. No wonder Blatter took so long to warble his way to the envelope-opening - he was probably waiting for his cheque to clear.
I say celebration is in order, anyway - I don't wish to be a part of Fifa's six week legislative programme that supercedes national laws in order to allow tax breaks, limitless immigration, money laundering and the suspension of labour laws. That's the worst bit of it all, much moreso than the bribery scandals. Those are par for the course when scum like Jack Warner are involved.
I also draw anger from the immediate finger-pointing at the press and last night's events at St Andrews, as if they somehow influenced any voting. When corruption is alleged or exposed at a top institution you are dealing with, you don't "feel frustrated" by it and ignore it, you seriously consider whether you should be dealing with these people and if appropriate take action against them. But I'd expect nothing less from our PM on that point - FIFA are his kind of people. The Birmingham violence... well frankly that was a storm in a teacup, nothing on the scale of last year's riot at West Ham v Milwall. Complete overreaction from the pro-England press solely due to the timing. Spain is hardly a bastion of fan peace, is it? Only last week the Real coach was getting attacked by Barca fans, yet for some reason violence is
still being painted as a England trademark.
On a lighter note, I'm glad England didn't get it because they haven't stopped talking about the bloody last one yet - another one would be intolerable for the rest of us!
