Photo/FIFA
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]IFA is proving to be more like a criminal superpower such as COBRA or SPECTRE instead of the governing body of association football.
In a 42 page report that was released by FIFA today, the organization essentially admitted that there were ethical problems with just about every bid made for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting rights, but shrugged their shoulders and claimed that nothing was as bad as it seemed.
For those of you just getting involved with this saga, let’s back up a bit.
Both the 2018 and 2022 bids have been mired with scrutiny of corruption and bribery, but the 2022 bid of Qatar is sticking out quite a bit more than Russia’s 2018 bid. Qatar is like a city-state from centuries past, run by a monarchy based out of Doha, really the only large city in the small country. The country has an estimated population of 2.1 million, while Doha boasts a population of 1.4 million. In a push to earn the bid for the Middle Eastern country, the Qatari Football Federation has allegedly showered several million dollars to various FIFA representatives. This is just the whipped cream on the problematic sundae, though. The cherry on top of it all is the open use of slave labor to build a brand new infrastructure in the country.
Qatar has employed slave labor from several poor countries, but usually these workers are brought in from Nepal. Deadspin has run a few reports on this, but the most damning report of all is this piece stating that the construction group is on pace to have more deaths since the 9/11 tragedy. At the time of that report, the number was in the 400 range of number of migrant death workers. Conversely, Brazil reported only eight deaths throughout their entire process. Of course, conditions in Brazil are quite better than Qatar. In Qatar, migrant workers are contracted out and sent to the country, where they immediately turn in their passports and are overworked. They may not even see anything resembling a salary due to the archaic laws of the Qatari government, but unfortunately, there is little that can be done by anyone.
Except, of course, FIFA could strip them of their successful bid. That isn’t going to happen, though.
Back to the announcement that came today, FIFA has washed their hands of the entire situation and, hilariously enough in a defiant stance that only FIFA can boast about, put blame on just about everyone else besides the criticized organization, going as far as to list every possible issue of corruption, including going out of their way to admonish the England Football Association regarding a paltry £600 gift. Meanwhile, FIFA openly admits that Qatar paid $1.8 million to fund the African Soccer Confederation’s congress as an “act of good will” according to reports.
Here’s where we go from confusing to insane: This 42-page report, supposedly written by the chief investigator, never actually wrote it.
Michael Garcia was appointed by FIFA as the chief investigator for all issues regarding these bids. His findings were listed in a 430-page report that he submitted to FIFA. There are many rumors as to what he suggested that FIFA do, but most seem to point to the fact that Garcia believes that Qatar bought the 2022 bid and should be stripped of it.
FIFA decided not to release that report, keeping it among themselves, only to submit this 42-page summary and then boldly put Garcia’s name on it as if he wrote it himself, which he didn’t.
Naturally, Garcia has said that this information isn’t true and has decided to appeal this to their board of ethics. Hilariously enough, the person who made the decision to clear Qatar and Russia, is the same man who heads the ethics committee.
We’ll have more on this as it becomes available.
