FIFA follow-up: I'm speechless

Yeah, I already ranted at length here about the Qatar World Cup situation (and I didn't even mention that the other World Cup awarded went to notoriously corrupt Russia, or that two FIFA Executive Committee members had already been barred from voting amid a bribery scandal), but this latest piece of news is just... wow. (Emphasis mine).

Yesterday Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, based on a bid with some wild ambitions. This is meant to be a carbon-neutral event, in the middle of a scorching desert, spread across 12 separate stadiums. But here's the kicker: A major contributor to the building plans is the son of Adolf Hitler's chief builder, Albert Speer. Could this be the most ambitious engineering feat and the largest public relations nightmare in sports since the 1936 Berlin Olympics?

About that PR problem: Five of the twelve stadiums created for the event will be designed by Albert Speer and Partners, according to Construction Week Online. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Speer's father was Hitler's favorite architect, whose neoclassical style became synonymous with the Third Reich.

We have to give Speer some credit: He has never engaged in politics, and managed to move his career past his name. This Spiegel article from 2007 mentions that he got his start in the Middle East, working in Saudi Arabia and Libya, and even suggests that his Nazi heritage has pushed him to work in countries that need the most help when it comes to human rights and democracy. Still, his contribution may not sit well with some soccer fans, especially when you consider the fact that Israeli citizens are legally barred from Qatar.

To be fair, Israeli citizens are barred from entering many Arabian countries, which speaks to how messed up things really are over in the Middle East (and why it's such a horribly risky decision to place some of the world's most talented and high-profile athletes right in the middle of it).

If the potentially negative PR from the oil/energy situation that I mentioned yesterday wasn't already enough, this brutal thumbing of the nose to Israel just takes FIFA's decision to the next level. I really can't come up with the proper words, so I'll just sit here and shake my head. Amazing, FIFA. Truly amazing.

[FastCo. Design]