By Andrew Warshaw
February 15 – Football politics moves in unpredictable ways. Not so long ago, then English FA chief Greg Dyke criticised Qatar being awarded the rights to stage the 2022 World Cup as the “worst moment” in FIFA’s history.
Now the FA, under a somewhat less confrontational regime, is cosying up to the Qataris with current chairman Greg Clarke signing a “knowledge-sharing” memorandum of understanding in Doha on Wednesday with both the Qatari FA and World Cup organisers.
“We have a long history of collaboration with various national associations,” said Clarke following the ceremony which could see the two nations play various friendlies at different age groups as well as sharing ideas on range of areas including grassroots football, youth development, women’s football, management and administration.
“For Qatar, developing the game across the country is a key objective as they approach the hosting of the World Cup in 2022.”
Behind the scenes, the partnership represents an early move by the FA to test support for a possible 2030 World Cup bid but no-one would be prepared to admit that publically, especially given the fact that Qatar is still the subject of investigation in both the United States and Switzerland over the its conduct during the 2022 bid process.
Accompanying Clarke was the British Ambassador to Qatar, Ajay Sharma, who said: “This will mark the beginning of even deeper cooperation between our two countries, and underlines the UK’s support for Qatar in delivering a successful World Cup 2022.”
Human rights groups cautioned against the FA overlooking the ongoing issue of the treatment of migrant workers working on World Cup sites.
Amnesty International’s head of policy, Allan Hogarth, was quoted as saying: “The FA needs to keep the pressure on the Qatari authorities to ensure that long-promised labour reforms are actually implemented.
“Football shouldn’t come at the expense of workers’ rights. The post-Qatar 2022 legacy for thousands of migrant workers in Qatar is likely to mean being saddled with crippling debt or, in some cases, painful memories of working in conditions amounting to forced labour.”
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