By Andrew Warshaw
February 26 – The increasingly hostile Saudi-led diplomatic spat with Qatar, which recently spilled over into football, has taken an unsavoury new twist with the Saudis apparently briefing some German media that the Gulf state could be stripped of hosting the 2022 World Cup.
Sources close to Saudi Arabia’s sports minister Turki al-Sheikh are reported as telling the German online magazine Focus that FIFA will announce in September whether to take the tournament away from Qatar because of persistent suspicions about vote buying, saying the USA and England could be considered as alternative hosts.
Al-Sheikh appeared to confirm part of the Focus report, saying that “September 2018 will be an intense month” at FIFA. “If found guilty of any ethical violations, the Qatari government must accept the consequences of their actions,” he said on Twitter.
“England is the birthplace of modern football,” he added. “Its history and pedigree would make it a great host. The USA has tremendous experience in hosting global sporting events. I would extremely enjoy watching the World Cup if hosted in England or the USA.”
The reports seem to be out of kilter with recent press announcements of support for Qatar, and England’s new Memorandum of Understanding with the Qatar FA that was signed in Doha last week.
Ever since the December 2010 vote, Qatar’s ballot victory has been mired in controversy with all manner of unconfirmed rumours and suspicions, and criticism of the country’s human rights record. The tournament has been moved to winter for the first time because of the scorching summer temperatures but Qatar has long vehemently denied that it broke any bidding rules.
There have been no signals from FIFA that Qatar is in danger of losing hosting rights, though speculation about wider corruption in the entire 2018 and 2022 bidding process which is still under investigation by Swiss authorities but appears to be an investigation that has lost both appetite and momentum.
There are fears that some Middle East states might boycott a Qatar World Cup, fuelled after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain only agreed to play in the recent Gulf Cup when it was switched from Qatar back to its original location in Kuwait.
Qatari authorities, who are anticipating 1.5 million fans attending the World Cup, dismissed al-Sheikh’s allegations as “fabricated and unfounded” saying Saudi Arabia was simply indulging in propaganda.
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