Did Qatar bribe FIFA officials to obtain the 2022 World Cup bid?
The process of bidding for the 2022 and the 2018 FIFA world cup involved making a decision on the venues for the staging of the 2022 and 2018 World Cup events. The bidding process commenced on March year 2009. A total of eleven bids from thirteen nations was received by the executive committee of FIFA. One of the bids was rejected and another one withdrawn. During the bidding process, bids for the 2022 came from Qatar, Japan, United States, South Korea and Australia. The process of bidding was marked with controversy as two individuals in the officiating FIFA committee were accused of trading their voting rights for money. Their voting rights were suspended. In December year 2010, Qatar was officially chosen as the host of the 2022 World Cup. Qatar’s bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup was a successful proposal of their government to be the host of the FIFA world cup in the year 2022 (Vesty 2009). She will be the first Arab state to host the FIFA world cup (Vesty 2009). The Emir of Qatar then was the chair of the executive committee, which handled the bidding process. The president of FIFA later endorsed the initiative of granting Qatar the opportunity to host the world’s greatest tournament in the midst of allegations that the Arab nation corrupted her way through the bidding process.
The main problem clouding the bidding process of the FIFA world cup of 2022, are the claims that payments had been made by a former head of Qatar’s national soccer association, Bin Mohamed to Jack Warner, an ex-vice president of FIFA who was a member of the bidding committee (Qatar Denies Bribery 2014). The daily telegraph newspaper alleges that a company under the firm control of Mohamed paid money amounting to $1.2 million to the member of the executive FIFA committee that settled on Qatar as a host of the world cup in 2022. All the two individuals involved in the allegation, left FIFA following their suspension in 2011. Investigation of the matter was launched by the FBI to evaluate the underlying truth on the matter. Shortly after the Arab nation won her bid, documents indicated that Jack and his family were paid millions of shillings (Qatar World Cup 2014).
The main possible solution to this problem could be to uphold the decision that was made by FIFA to make Qatar the host of the FIFA 2022 games and carry out investigations to establish the truth about the allegations made against the former FIFA officials. The other possible solution could be withdrawing of Qatar’s bid and restarting a new and fair bidding process.
If the two postulated solutions are effected, they will have dire consequences on the perception of the public on the conduct of the FIFA executive committee in carrying out their mandate. Upholding their decision may work well for the Arab nations which are in great support of the decision. Hosting of the world cup in the Qatar will also serve to bridge the economic gap between the East and the West. The economic benefits will have to come along with a spoilt reputation if it is established that they took part in the bribery to work their way out. The members whose bids were unfairly side-lined in the bidding process will of course feel distressed emotionally. Withdrawing the bid of Qatar has dire consequences. The Arab nations will feel short changed. The withdrawal will intensify the uneasy relations of the East and the West and other European nations. If the intentions of Qatar to use slaves in provision of labour in the on-going construction of infrastructure are true, the human rights are bound to be violated immensely. However, it will save the sportsmen from enduring the harsh climate of the desert (Omar 2014).
The values of honesty and morality shall have been violated by upholding of the choice to make Qatar the venue of 2022 FIFA games. The morals of the captains of truth and transparency in life shall have been challenged. While withdrawing the bid shall not violate any values as it will be a step forward in ensuring that the values of truth and transparency in the dealings of public officials are maintained.
The solution to uphold FIFA’s decision has better impacts in terms of fostering the unity between the East and other countries in Europe and the West. Even though, outwardly this gesture may seem promising to the world’s diplomats, the lives of the nationals of Qatar could be under threat of slavery. Still, this decision seems better as there is room for changes and the allegations to use forced labour have not yet been justified. The withdrawal of her bid will satisfy the individual interests of the nations like japan and United States who also placed their bids alongside Qatar. However, this, will only serve to appease the interests of a few nations while it will raise and uproar in the East.
Considering the impacts of the two possible solutions, settling on upholding of the FIFA decision serves everyone best. The decision should be upheld following its benefits that tend to outweigh its negative impacts on the people’s lives and the moral values and standards.
The reason for settling on this controversial decision is expressed as follows. The nations in the Arab will be overjoyed by the decision of making them the hosts. The economic gap between the East and the West will be bridged due to the economic activities that the event will attract to the East. The people of the world will also get to experience being in a different and unique climate of the desert. The diplomatic relations between the East and the West shall be tightened. The unity of the world will be boosted through the interaction of people from all corners of the world. The claims of allegation of bribery had been denied by the FIFA officials stating that the bidding process was carried out while following the codes and the ethics of the organisation (Qatar Denies Bribery 2014). Therefore, it cannot be justified that the said allegations have some strong basis. The resolution made by FIFA to host the FIFA world cup 2022 in Qatar should, therefore, be upheld considering the benefits that come along with making such a decision in the way it was done.
References
Cottrell, S. (2005). Critical thinking skills: developing effective analysis and argument. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
“Qatar Denies Bribery Allegations Over its 2022 World Cup Bid”, 2014 March 18th, Aljazeera America. (Online) retrieved from http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/18/qatar-denies allegedbriberyofFIFAofficialin2022worldcupbid.html
Omar, I., 2014, April 9th. “Will Qatar organize World Cup 2022 without a glitch?” The Eastern Tribune (online) retrieved from http://www.theeasterntribune.com/blogs/256/will-qatar-organize-world-cup-2022-without-a-glitch/#sthash.0ICk4IoS.dpuf
Vesty, M., (2009 March 17th). "The 'race' to host World Cup 2018 and 2022". BBC Sport (London) (online) retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7856716.stm#netherlandsbelgium
“Qatar World Cup 2022 investigation: former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and family paid millions,” (2014 April, 24th), The Telegraph, (Online) retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/10704290/Qatar-World-Cup-2022-investigation-former-FIFA-vice-president-Jack-Warner-and-family-paid-millions.html
