World Cup in Qatar????

[birdwatcher]

I'm not a big soccer fan, though I played the sport from the 5th grade till my freshman year in college and this will probably come across as ignorant, but is this FIFA's way of destroying soccer for the world? Putting all of the Earth's best players in one hotbed country at the same time seems like the sports equivalent of a giant meteor smashing into the earth before the first ice age. Is this even safe? Am I the only one who thinks this is nuts?

[barefacedmonk]

What do you mean by hotbed? Are you talking about the temperature?

[birdwatcher]

Temperature! 138 degrees! That's hot enough to melt candles on the spot and also kill trichinosis if you happen to have some raw bear meat or pork sausage with you at the game...

[Lucky17]

Temperature! 138 degrees! That's hot enough to melt candles on the spot and also kill trichinosis if you happen to have some raw bear meat or pork sausage with you at the game...

Is bear meat Halal?

[barefacedmonk]

Also, how is it destroying football? The sport is VERY POPULAR in that region (middle east) and has a huge fan following. FIFA won't have to worry about selling tickets. One of the many duties of FIFA is to promote and expand the sport and it is doing just that by bringing the world cup to that region. I see nothing wrong with it at all.

[birdwatcher]

Temperature! 138 degrees! That's hot enough to melt candles on the spot and also kill trichinosis if you happen to have some raw bear meat or pork sausage with you at the game...

Is bear meat Halal?

HA! no, it's actually HARAM. Camel, which is right at the top of the list should be in abundance, though!

[birdwatcher]

Also, how is it destroying football? The sport is VERY POPULAR in that region (middle east) and has a huge fan following. FIFA won't have to worry about selling tickets. One of the many duties of FIFA is to promote and expand the sport and it is doing just that by bringing the world cup to that region. I see nothing wrong with it at all.

Have you ever played soccer?? If you can play in 138 degrees for two weeks without catching on fire or drying up like a piece of beef jerky, I would assume you may have been embedded in our society from some other planet closer to the sun.

[barefacedmonk]

Temperature! 138 degrees!

The average temperature in June-July is around 40C or 104F....shouldn't be a big problem at all if they hold all the matches at night time. Plus, the Qatari officials realise this problem as well and I think they are planning on having temperature controlled stadiums.

[barefacedmonk]

Also, how is it destroying football? The sport is VERY POPULAR in that region (middle east) and has a huge fan following. FIFA won't have to worry about selling tickets. One of the many duties of FIFA is to promote and expand the sport and it is doing just that by bringing the world cup to that region. I see nothing wrong with it at all.

Have you ever played soccer?? If you can play in 138 degrees for two weeks without catching on fire or drying up like a piece of beef jerky

I lived in the middle east for 10 years...and saw the locals play the game in the heat...no one caught on fire...and go easy with the sarcastic comments. I haven't said anything to offend you. Two can play this game if need be...but I would like to keep it civil.

[fairweatherfan]

Temperature! 138 degrees!

The average temperature in June-July is around 40C or 104F....shouldn't be a big problem at all if they hold all the matches at night time. Plus, the Qatari officials realise this problem as well and I think they are planning on having temperature controlled stadiums.

I believe they got the bid in part because they specifically promised all games would be in air-conditioned stadia.

[barefacedmonk]

Temperature! 138 degrees!

The average temperature in June-July is around 40C or 104F....shouldn't be a big problem at all if they hold all the matches at night time. Plus, the Qatari officials realise this problem as well and I think they are planning on having temperature controlled stadiums.

I believe they got the bid in part because they specifically promised all games would be in air-conditioned stadia.

Yes. They promised temperature controlled stadiums. Stadiums that can lower and keep the temperature to 20 degrees celsius if need be....thats pretty comfortable for football.

[kozlodoev]

The selection of Qatar has generated some backlash on the front page of Yahoo!Sports' soccer section, which includes gems like this one:

FIFA has shown now that it won’t restrict itself to the established nations, and the Qatar upset will spark a lot more enterprising bids. That means that, despite the obvious financial benefits of bringing the tournament back to the States, it is not going to get any easier for the Americans.

No wonder the author felt the need to preface his argument with the statement "this is not sour grapes", because that's exactly what it is.

In case someone was asleep for the last 50 years or, FIFA has never restricted itself to established nations (whatever that's supposed to mean).

As far as I am concerned, putting the tournament in the Middle East is a great step forward for the popularity of the game worldwide. Well, maybe people who care about "financial benefits" are p---ed, but ... tough beans.

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news;_ylt=AgfBnQQMeMRINUFcSt_7uUgmw7YF?slug=ro-worldcupvote120210

[barefacedmonk]

In case someone was asleep for the last 50 years or, FIFA has never restricted itself to established nations (whatever that's supposed to mean).

As far as I am concerned, putting the tournament in the Middle East is a great step forward for the popularity of the game worldwide. Well, maybe people who care about "financial benefits" are [peeved], but ... tough beans.

I agree 100%.

If, by establised, the author means, "rich/western like countries" then he couldn't be more wrong. Qatar is developed country now with a very high standard of living.

[birdwatcher]

Also, how is it destroying football? The sport is VERY POPULAR in that region (middle east) and has a huge fan following. FIFA won't have to worry about selling tickets. One of the many duties of FIFA is to promote and expand the sport and it is doing just that by bringing the world cup to that region. I see nothing wrong with it at all.

Sorry that I offended you. Obviously, I hit a raw nerve (that would start to cook @ 138 degrees).

Have you ever played soccer?? If you can play in 138 degrees for two weeks without catching on fire or drying up like a piece of beef jerky

I lived in the middle east for 10 years...and saw the locals play the game in the heat...no one caught on fire...and go easy with the sarcastic comments. I haven't said anything to offend you. Two can play this game if need be...but I would like to keep it civil.

[kozlodoev]

If, by establised, the author means, "rich/western like countries" then he couldn't be more wrong. Qatar is developed country now with a very high standard of living.

My best guess is that the author means countries with established soccer infrastructure. In which case, he'll be surprised to find out that FIFA often uses WC hosting as a tool to give a jolt to the development of said infrastructure in order to stimulate the sport on a national and regional level.