We are on the eve of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the tension is palpable. Airwaves around the footballing world have been fraught with controversies, scandals, predictions, disappointments and the expectations of millions of football fans who have remained committed to witnessing and relishing another instalment of football heritage.
Since the first game of the tournament was played on 13 July 1930, the World Cup has remained the crowning event to behold for every football stakeholder. Fans, players, pundits and sports enthusiasts hold the quadrennial event of inestimable value, considering it a colourful convocation of sporting nations seeking to express patriotism, cultural diversity and a shared fervour for earth’s biggest sport.
However, this year’s World Cup is special. And it is not just because it is the first-ever World Cup held during the Northern Hemisphere winter months. It is also not because the winter tournament is interrupting the European football season of many top leagues. And it is also not because of the fact that it is the last edition of the World Cup in its current 32-team system.
The 2022 edition of the tournament is holding in Qatar. And despite the fact that the country was announced as host in December 2010, the embers of controversy surrounding the country’s hosting have never abated.
Qatar – A swirling Cup of controversy
Qatar is anything but a traditional football country, and it has never before qualified for a World Cup. It also notably lacks the characteristic fan culture observable in Europe and has no known football icons.
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Qatar, also a member state of the Gulf Cooperation Council, is also notably a conservative country, with ideals that are largely at variance with that of the footballing west.
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As such, nearly every headline about this year’s tournament has been concerned with some riling attribute of the conservatism of the Gulf country. This week, it was Qatar’s stadium ban on alcohol to the chagrin of the chugging faithful. Last week, it was the Arab-Muslim country’s reiteration of its stance against humanitarian protests on behalf of the LGBT at any venue of the stadium.
There has also been further concern about the alleged ethical compromise involved in the Arab nation’s hosting bid. If today was about re-evaluating the sordid underbelly of the bidding process that gave Qatari stakeholders the hosting rights, tomorrow would be about re-examining the harsh working conditions and narrow timeline that immigrant labourers endurably survived to construct.
Pundits, players, managers and fans have all taken public stances denouncing the competition because of these concerns.
Russel Howard, an English media presenter, in October called 2022’s World Cup the “most corrupt sporting event ever”, highlighting the various corruption charges and human rights abuse cases that have been levelled against Qatar.
Louis van Gaal, the current head coach of the Netherlands national team, had in March 2022 called FIFA’s decision to host the World Cup in Qatar “ridiculous”, saying that the sports governing body’s reasons were “bullshit”.
FIFA-Qatar Corruption
Although the general consensus view of football stakeholders has been that Qatar should not be hosting the World Cup, there are conflicting reasons offered from different quarters concerning the ‘why’.
However, among such dissenting positions is one that has been suspected by football analysts and fans alike, and eventually substantiated by former officials of the sport’s governing body.
Claims that Qatar had in fact, bought the World Cup, have been levelled against them in the past. However, such an accusation has graduated from nothing more than an old wives fable to a truth of near-certain veracity.
For instance, Sepp Blatter, a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015, stands against Qatar’s hosting of the global sporting event.
However, Blatter’s grounds for contention are dissimilar to the rhetoric spotlighting Qatari human rights policies.
Asked why Qatar was a bad choice, Blatter made no mention of the human rights concerns that have hung over the tournament but said: “It’s too small a country. Football and the World Cup are too big for that.”
The former FIFA president, who has since 2015 been banned from participating in FIFA activities as a result of a public FIFA corruption case, then accused Qatar of bribery (which he referred to as ‘artificial engineering’.).
Blatter said that FIFA’s plans were disrupted by Platini, claiming the Frenchman was instrumental in directing four votes from European countries to Qatar, after pressure from Nicolas Sarkozy, the former President of France.
“Thanks to the four votes of Platini and his [UEFA] team, the World Cup went to Qatar rather than the United States. It’s the truth,” Blatter said of the 14-8 voting result against the US in the final two.
Meanwhile, former UEFA president, Michel Platini has denied the allegations.
When questioned by French officials in 2019 as part of an investigation into the 2022 bidding process, the former France player acknowledges that the meeting with Sarkozy took place but denies his votes were influenced.
Qatar detractors hypocritical, racist – FIFA president
Seemingly, Europe—alongside much of the western world—has taken a firm stance against the 2022 World Cup.
However, just one day before the World Cup, FIFA president Gianni Infantino accused European wailers moralising about the World Cup of “hypocrisy” and “racism”.
In a heated one-hour monologue which opened a Saturday news conference in Doha, Infantino, who will stand unopposed for re-election as FIFA president next March, defended the treatment of migrant workers, reiterating that LGBTQ+ people were welcome and insisting he was still in control of the tournament despite the last-minute stadium ban on alcohol.
Turning his attention to LGBTQ+ rights, Infantino repeated the Qatar Supreme Committee’s insistence that everybody is welcome in the country despite the country’s strict laws against homosexuality, punishable in some cases by death.
“They’ve confirmed that I can confirm that everyone is welcome,” Infantino said. “If the odd person here or there says the opposite, it’s not the opinion of the country and it’s certainly not the opinion of FIFA. This a clear FIFA requirement, that everyone is to be welcome.
“Everyone who comes to Qatar is welcome, whatever religion, race, sexual orientation, or belief she or he has, everyone is welcome. This was our requirement and the Qatari state sticks to that requirement.
“You will tell me: ‘Yes, but there are legislations which prohibit that, or whatever, you have to go to jail’. Yes, these legislations exist. They exist in many countries in the world. This legislation existed in Switzerland when they organised the World Cup in 1954. Like for the workers, these are processes.”
Infantino insisted FIFA was still “200% in control” of the tournament and appeared to suggest: “If this is the biggest issue we have for the World Cup, I will sign immediately and go to the beach and relax until 18th of December.
“Let me first assure you that every decision taken at this World Cup is a joint decision between Qatar and FIFA. Every decision. It is discussed, debated and taken jointly. There will be over 200 places where you can buy alcohol in Qatar.
Future hosting – Africa lobby’s for 2030 and beyond
Conversations on World Cup hosting and the merits of the selection process have also been contemplated in climes far beyond the borders of Eastern and Western societies.
Africa, having hosted a solitary World Cup—the 2010 edition of the tournament in South Africa—is seeking another opportunity to be at the helm of football’s biggest tournament.
However, the chances of any potential bids coming to fruition are doubtful, seeing as even the 2010 South Africa edition of the tournament was only achieved through corruption.
In March 2016, FIFA acknowledged that its own officials accepted up to $10 million in return for votes that awarded South Africa the 2010 World Cup tournament.
Allegations that South Africa bribed officials to win the bid to host the World Cup first surfaced in 2015, following a wide-ranging investigation of corruption at FIFA by the US Department of Justice. Its findings led to the indictment of Jack Warner, a former FIFA vice president and executive committee member, for selling his vote on the 2010 tournament, among other things. It was the scandal that forced the resignation—and eventual ban—of Sepp Blatter.
However, Africans have continued to hope for another opportunity to host the event.
The continent is home to 1.4 billion people and a teeming population of avid football fans with great sporting culture.
Beginning in 2026, the World Cup will be expanded to a 48-team tournament, likely requiring co-bids with two or more nations jointly bidding in order to host an event of that magnitude. Many nations have already begun presenting bids for 2030.
On 17 June 2018, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation announced its co-bidding for the 2030 World Cup. The country was considering two possible joint bids: one with Tunisia and Algeria, and the other with Spain and Portugal.
Other countries that have expressed interest in Algeria, Cameroon and Tunisia.
Despite this, there have been several conversations as to whether the continent’s most prosperous nations have the cultural relevance, wherewithal, and economic culpability to sway the votes in their favour.
While the conversation on whether Africa can hold another World Cup—legally—is still ongoing, Africans are relishing their chances at the 2022 World Cup. At least, if they fail to bring the prized event to the continent, they can hope to bring the coveted prize home.
Can Africa win a Medal in 2022?
Africa has featured in every World Cup since 1970. The 2022 tournament will see five (5) African teams hope to make an impression at the competition.
The five African representatives — Cameroon, Ghana, Morroco, Senegal and Tunisia — will hope to break the continent’s quarter-final jinx.
To date, the final of the World Cup has only been contested by European and South American teams. The two continents have won nine titles apiece.
In November, Cameroon football legend Samuel Eto’o had predicted an All-African final, optimistically backing his compatriots to emerge winners of the tournament.
Which African team can bring home the prize?
Cameroon
Cameroon was the first African country to set the quarterfinal ceiling at the Italy 1990 World Cup.
However, the Indomitable Lions have enjoyed contrasting fortune in recent editions of the tournament.
After missing out on Russia (2018), Cameroon will be aim to make an impact in Qatar and hope to perform better than they did in their last two features in the competition where they crashed out of the group stages without earning a point.
Star players Vincent Aboubakar, Eric-Maxim and Karl Toko Ekambi will hope to make a difference for the Indomitable Lions.
Ghana
Ghana defeated Nigeria’s Super Eagles to earn their ticket to the World Cup. However, the team’s expectations at the competition have remained relatively realistic, as they have been lumped into the ‘Group of Death’ alongside European heavyweights Portugal and Uruguay, with a resurgent Son Heung-min-led South Korea rounding out the group.
Ghana’s young core is full of energetic players who can complement their inexperience with youthful zeal.
Athletic Bilbao’s Inaki Williams, Tariq Lamptey of Brighton & Hove Albion, and Mohamed Salisu of Southampton will be expected to take responsibility and give their country a fighting chance in the competition.
Morocco
Morocco holds the record as the first African country to advance beyond the group stages of the World Cup in Mexico (1986). The Atlas Lions, however, have been without a victory in a World Cup game since 1998.
Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui are expected to be heavily depended on by Walid Regragui, the new head coach.
Morocco will hope to have all cylinders firing to at least emerge from an extremely tough Group F, which sees them compete with Belgium, Croatia and Canada.
Senegal
Understandably expected to be the solitary standout performers from the African continent, Senegal suffered a setback when it was announced that Sadio Mane would miss the tournament recovering from injury.
The Teranga Lions are however expected to rely on star players Edouard Mendy (Chelsea), Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea), and Idrissa Gana Gueye (Everton) to put on exemplary defensive performance in the competition.
Senegal will face the Netherlands, host country Qatar, and outliers Ecuador in the Group A of the competition.
Tunisia
A historical outfit, Tunisia’s national team head into their sixth World Cup. However, despite being one of the African countries with the most appearances at the tournament, the Eagles of Carthage have never advanced from the group stages.
Although the team has very few familiar faces, they possess grit and character and will be expected to survive a group that will see them face Australia, Denmark and World Cup holders in France.
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