By Andrew Warshaw
June 6 – FIFA has been drawn into the escalating diplomatic crisis surrounding Qatar as speculation intensifies over the extent, if any, to which the rift with its neighbours and other Arab nations might impact on preparations to stage the 2022 World Cup.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Yemen have all severed ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism and prompting immediate conjecture about whether the region will still support its hosting status.
FIFA said merely that it was “in regular contact with the Qatar 2022 Local Organising Committee and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy handling matters relating to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”
But the influential German Football Association (DFB), whose team are reigning world champions, said it would discuss the matter with the German government.
“We will discuss the new, complex political situation in the region and specifically in Qatar with the federal government,” DFB President Reinhard Grindel said in a statement. “In such matters we will of course be in very close contact with UEFA.
“There are still five years to go before the World Cup starts. During this time priority should be given to political solutions rather than threats of boycott.”
“But one thing is clear. The football community worldwide should agree that … major tournaments should not be played in countries that actively support terror. We take note very attentively and with concern of the current, serious accusations.”
Qatar’s national team are still involved in trying to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Russia though there is only a remote chance they could progress.
For years the 2022 hosts have been buffeted by all manner of western criticism, whether it be over the decision to break with tradition and hold the tournament in winter because of the heat, human rights issues, lack of football pedigree or the ongoing investigations into the 2010 bidding ballot.
Organisers have been at pains to simply press ahead with plans to project Qatar on to the global stage but the damaging diplomatic row is the latest unwanted distraction.
The Qatari government has denied any accusation of supporting terrorism with a foreign ministry spokesman commenting: “The campaign of incitement is based on lies that had reached the level of complete fabrications.”
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