FIFA and Qatar update

Here's another update on a topic that I haven't discussed here in a while—FIFA embarrassing itself. If it seemed a little weird to anybody that Qatar was announced as the host nation for the 2022 World Cup, then... oh, let's be serious here, we all knew what was going on already, didn't we?

FIFA vice-president Michel Platini has defended his decision to vote for Qatar as 2022 World Cup host after a magazine in his native France alleged collusion among state and football leaders. 

"I reserve the right to sue anyone who questions my integrity in this vote," Platini, who is president of European governing body UEFA, said in a statement on Tuesday. 

Platini responded after France Football magazine published a 15-page cover story article titled Le Qatargate examining the Qatar World Cup project. 

The magazine detailed a November 2010 dinner in Paris at then-president Nicolas Sarkozy's official residence, attended by Platini and Qatar's crown prince, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. 

There, Sarkozy allegedly pressured Platini for political reasons to switch allegiance from the United States bid to Qatar in the FIFA vote nine days later, France Football suggested.

Platini is steadfast in his denials, but of course he is. Sarkozy, for his part, is currently under investigation in France for various violations (including illegal campaign financing), so it's clear that this whole situation is just one giant mess. Good times, go USA.

[Sydney Morning Herald]

Quote of the Week

Oh, hi there. Haven't seen you guys in a while. My apologies for my unplanned one-week hiatus. I'll just blame things on tax season (doing business taxes sucks) and then we'll get back to business as usual. Sound good? Alright, cool.

I've actually had a good amount of material to post up here, but I just haven't gotten around to writing about it all. The good news is, that probably means a few good posts up here in the next couple of weeks. It also means I'm about to send you folks into the weekend with a flurry of posts, just the way you like it.

First up is your Quote of the Week. Originally, I'd planned to pass along President Obama's "warning" to the Supreme Court, in which he once again showed his utter disregard for the Constitution and its ingenious system of checks and balances. (Incidentally, I highly suggest that you read the linked article from Mish Shedlock--it includes a great overview of Obamacare that I think should be required reading). But I didn't feel like ending my one-week hiatus on a bitter note, with rants about Presidential duties and political this-and-that. It's all just so... tiresome.

So while I may get back to that topic at some point in the future, for today I'm sticking to happier things. Things like this ridiculous free-kick goal from Cristiano Ronaldo against Atletico Madrid, and Ray Hudson's absolutely amazing call of it. After referring to the goal (he calls it a "wunderstrike") as "a wet dream of orgasmic proportions", he follows up with one of my favorite lines in sports announcing history, one that might as well have been ripped out of a Kanye West song. Al Michaels, eat your heart out.

This week's QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"This has got more curves to it than Jessica Rabbit on steroids."
                            - Ray Hudson, GOL TV commentator

Yes it does, Ray. Yes it does.

(h/t Deadspin)

Clip of the Week

In a slow week for clips (seriously, even the football all sucked, with the final two AFC playoff teams qualifying for the tournament despite ugly Week 17 losses), there was no real contest for Clip of the Week. Therefore, I give you US Soccer goalie Tim Howard, playing for EPL squad Everton, upstaging his national teammate Landon Donovan by scoring the rare goalie goal (the game's only goal, and therefore the game winner) from inside his own box. I love this guy. Is it time for the next World Cup yet?

Clip of the Week

My apologies for the lack of posting today... things got a little busy at the office.

Skipping right past the usual banter, we all know it's Clip of the Week time, but the pickings were a little slim this week. I was a huge fan of this clip from the Jimmy Fallon show (special hat-tip to Brian Williams, who I didn't realize had a sense of humor), and it very nearly took home Clip of the Week honors for its sheer idiocy.

But when there's a clip that I can't stop watching (it usually happens in the world of sports), it's usually a fair bet that it's going to be my Clip of the Week. And while this video of Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy showing off his basketball skills did fit that bill, it's not this week's winner.

Instead, our winner comes from an exhibition soccer game between Mexican club Chivas (de Guadalajara) and world power Barcelona. Chivas pulled off the stunning 4-1 upset, thanks in no small part to this amazing goal from Marco Fabian, which proved to be the game-winner. Impressive stuff.

Following up on an old rant

It's been a while since I've ranted about FIFA, hasn't it? Actually, no, it really hasn't been. But it seems like it has, and it certainly hasn't been for lack of material. When it comes to providing fodder for bitter bloggers like me, FIFA is second to none. Go ahead boys, show us what you've got today.

Having decided to play the tournament in the middle of summer in a country where temperatures regularly exceed 40C [104 F], Fifa have been wrestling with the problem of how the world's best players are going to cope with the conditions.

Air conditioned, indoor stadiums will help, but even that might not be enough to keep them at a safe temperature according to Michael Beavon, a director of Arup Associates, the company responsible for developing the zero-carbon solar technology intended to cool them.

As a result, one proposal being considered by Fifa is to play the 90 minute games over three 30-minute periods if the temperature inside the stadiums exceeds 30c [86 F] because of the potential health risks involved.

"There is a moderate risk of heat injury to the players between 24C-29C [75-84 F] but if you go above that you have high and extreme risk of injury, " said Beavon, who was speaking to delegates at the Qatar Infrastructure Conference in London.

"The one thing Fifa do say, although it is for guidance, is if it's 32C [90 F] they will stop a match and play three 30-minute thirds rather than two 45-minute halves."

Look, I'm already on record with my thoughts on choosing a nation such as Qatar to host your sport's biggest event. It's tone-deaf in almost every imaginable regard, and the choice has already offended (among others) environmentalists, gays, and the entire nation of Israel (and, likely by extension, the entire global Jewish community).

But it's one thing to be politically offensive. It's quite another to CHANGE THE RULES OF YOUR GAME in order to cover up your ridiculous (and corrupt) decisions. There's not a lot of hard and fast rules when it comes to choosing a World Cup host nation--yes, there are guidelines as to what a World Cup stadium should look like, but obviously those too were relaxed in order to award Qatar, a nation with zero Cup-ready venues, with the Cup.

But one would think that if there was to be even one rule, that rule would be "make sure that soccer can be played in this country". On that most basic of requirements, it's clear that Qatar has failed. This should pretty much be the end of the conversation, and yet here we are. Well played, FIFA. I can't wait for 2022. Save us, robot clouds!

[Telegraph]

Clip of the Week

Man, it's Thursday again? Already? But I thought I just posted Clip of the Week... man, long weekends screw me up.

Alright, whatever, here's a clip from the Women's World Cup, which is now on to the quarterfinal stage over in Germany. I've been watching, because it's on every day at noon, and it's good background noise while I'm eating lunch. Obviously not watching? The referees, who somehow missed this blatant handball.



It may not be quite as inexplicable as Koman Coulibaly's randomly disallowed goal last summer (actually, it's just as inexplicable if not worse, but nobody's really paying attention so who cares?), but it's pretty brutal.

FIFA up to its old tricks

I'll keep this one short and sweet, because I'm honestly not surprised anymore to hear about maddeningly tone-deaf behavior coming from FIFA, on the heels of this, this, and this. But this latest item is still newsworthy, and in the interest of maintaining consistency with my previous viewpoints, here we go:

Not participating in the 2012 London Olympics is a nightmare for every serious athlete, but for the Iranian women’s soccer team the defeat was extra bitter after they were disqualified right before a crucial qualifying match because they wore Islamic headscarves.

Ready to play a crucial Olympic qualifying match with Jordan in Amman on Friday, the Iranian team was dismissed by officials of the international football association, FIFA. The officials decided just before the kickoff that the tight headscarves the Iranian players were wearing to cover their hair broke the association’s dress code, FIFA said on Monday.

After Jordan was awarded a 3-0 victory, Iran’s players took to the field crying, Press TV, Iranian state TV’s English-language outlet, reported.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran all women are obliged to cover their hair, neck, arms and legs according to the state’s interpretation of Shiite Islamic tenets. Female athletes who compete internationally have to obey the country’s dress code. Iranian women athletes have excelled during international events in sports such as karate and volleyball, but are notably absent from sports such as swimming and gymnastics.

“This ruling means that women soccer in Iran is over,” said Shahrzad Mozafar, the team’s former head coach. She said that now that FIFA is no longer allowing Iranian women to wear scarves, the Iranian government will no longer send them abroad for competitions. “Headscarves are simply what we wear in Iran,” she said.

Well-played, FIFA. You continue to set a new standard for missing the point.

[Washington Post]
(h/t Deadspin)

On the idolatry of athletes

Last week, I came across this item from ESPN, listing the highest-paid athlete from 182 nations in the world. It represents quite the range of salaries, sports, and leagues, and of course I had a bit of fun playing around with the data.

ESPN made it particularly easy for me, since they were kind enough to list each country's per capita GDP along with the salary of their highest-paid athlete. Charting the results (for selected nations) yielded something looking a lot like this:

Obviously, there's a huge disparity between the "haves" and "have-nots", with ratios at the high end blowing away the rest of the world (I listed the top 5 highest ratios, but skipped the next several down to China at 16). In Togo, the most "uneven" country in the group, the highest-paid athlete earns a whopping 24,791 times more than the nation's per capita GDP. This puts the highest-paid American (Alex Rodriguez) and his 713-to-1 ratio to shame.

It should hardly be surprising that many of the countries with the highest ratios are particularly poor nations with star soccer players who play abroad (Emmanuel Adebayor from Togo, Yaya Toure from the Ivory Coast, Herita Elunga from D.R. Congo, Michael Essien from Ghana, etc.), since soccer is the world's most popular game, regardless of economic background.

Of the 15 nations with the highest athlete-to-GDP ratios, 8 of those countries had soccer players as their richest athletes, and 6 of those 8 played in the English Premier League. In fact, one team, Manchester City, has two of the top five "highest relative pay" athletes on their roster, and 5 of the top 32. Man City just might be the world's largest international charity organization.

For these poor nations, athletes certainly know that to leave the nation and play professional sports abroad is their best shot at a better life. Those nations' high ratios say much less about the value the citizenry places on athletics, and much more about the state of the broader economy in those states.

As for the United States, for all the hand-wringing in our country over how "overpaid" our athletes are relative to the average worker, it's clear that the United States is at best (or at worst, depending on your point of view) average when compared to the rest of the world. Of the 182 countries surveyed, the United States checks in with the 69th-highest ratio. High, to be sure, but not completely out of whack with respect to the rest of the developed world.

Because the data were so noisy what with all of the exporting of top athletes to richer nations, I thought it would also be interesting to see how far down the list I would have to go before I found a nation whose highest-paid athlete actually competed in his home nation--that is to say, the "real" highest-paid athlete in the world, in relative terms. Which country, dollar for dollar, was paying the most to watch its athletes play?

I found my answer down at #37 on the list, in India--cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni earns an amazing 1,674 times more than India's per capita GDP, and he doesn't have to leave India to do it. By that measure alone, it's possible to argue that India "values" Dhoni more than twice as much as the USA values A-Rod. Food for thought.

(Side note: if anyone understands the rules of cricket, like even a little bit, please let me know. It was all over ESPN-International while I was down in Jamaica last week, and I seriously have no idea what's going on out there. What the hell is an over? I digress.) 

[ESPN]

Clip of the Week

There wasn't quite the wealth of material this week that I've had to choose from in recent weeks for Clip of the Week, but in the realm of sports highlights, there's always something good to be found. This week's special something is from the first minute of a UEFA Champions League soccer matchup between Inter Milan and Schalke.

Unfortunately, I can't find a single clip of the goal on YouTube that allows embedding, so you're gonna have to click here to see Dejan Stankovic doing his thing.

Impressive. Bonus points for the German commentator and his almost cartoonishly guttural accent.

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]

FIFA says "f*** you" to the world

In the annals of terrible (and terribly selfish) decisions, the ever-corrupt FIFA delegation created a new category for itself today by awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a country with little soccer history, limited existing infrastructure, oppressive weather conditions, an incredibly small population, but very deep pockets. The United States, which welcomed record crowds when it hosted the 1994 World Cup, was the initial favorite but lost in the final round of voting.

Qatar, the smallest nation to host the World Cup, used its 30-minute presentation to underline how the tournament could unify a region ravaged by conflict. Presenters also promised to overcome summer heat of up to 130 degrees by air conditioning outdoor stadiums it will build, then dismantle and give to needy nations.

Really? That's your closing argument? Yikes. With so little going for it except money, there's simply no other conclusion to draw than that FIFA (like the voters in the delegation) was overwhelmed by Qatar's oil-lined bank accounts.

Former French star Zinedine Zidane (he of the infamous head-butt) will reportedly pocket $15 million for himself as a result of the Qatar win, after having appeared in a series of advertisements promoting the nation's bid. Given that, it's definitely not much of a reach to wonder if (or assume that) other pockets were lined during the bidding and voting process.

Qatar's soccer team itself has never qualified for the World Cup, and the nation has zero stadiums that are currently World Cup-ready (in contrast to the United States, which has dozens). Qatar has plans to build between 7 and 9 stadiums (reports vary) specifically for the Cup, many of which will be dismantled immediately afterward.

The nation made its innovative plans to air-condition the stadiums with solar technology a centerpiece of its bid, but its history must cast some doubt on its ability or willingness to actually see that plan through. Qatar is first in the world by a long shot in CO-2 emissions per capita--blowing away every other nation--at a rate nearly triple that of the United States.

By rewarding a nation with such an abysmally dubious distinction as that--and one which profits handsomely from the rest of the world's oil addiction--FIFA has sent a troubling message to the world. At a time when the whole world should be asking itself tough questions about its energy usage and what it means for our future (and I'm not just talking global warming, I'm talking about the question of what types of rogue governments we support with our inability to kick the oil habit), FIFA is instead cheerleading for one of the greatest benificiaries of our gluttonous oil consumption.

Is FIFA alone responsible for setting the precedent that the rest of the world should follow? Certainly not. But as the guardian of the world's most popular sport, it has political reach and clout that few organizations can claim, and today it showed that it has no interest in using that bully pulpit to bring social good. Today's vote isn't about promoting the global growth of soccer or of giving poor Middle Eastern kids a chance to enjoy the world's greatest game (to paraphrase Zidane). Those arguments are smokescreens, and weak ones at that. Today's decision was about money, pure and simple, and about utter indifference with regard to that money's source. Score one for big oil. Thanks, FIFA.


[ESPN]