Thursday 13 January 2011

2022 World Cup Sneak Preview ? 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar

Rated as one of the most nondescript tournaments in the world of football ( no offence to our Asian brothers), the current Asian Cup might serve another interesting perspective in the games future. After Qatar's winning bid for the FIFA World Cup 2022, FIFA's Sepp Blatter made the suggestion that the tournament might be moved to the early months of 2022 rather than the traditional mid-year calendar that is FIFA's money-spinning events.
Qatari Football fans - courtesy of www.attackingsoccer.com 

FIFA's ( or is it Blatter's) rationale of the 2022 winning bid is that the game needs to expand in Asia and attract wider audiences and finances than is currently the case. Well, the Asian Cup is proving to be a great guinea pig from the stadium and transport infrastructure to the fans attending the games and maybe the weather conditions ( that is if Blatter has his way).
It is admirable what the Qatari authorities have been doing for sport, indeed investing heavily and even making future plans for the related services such as housing of hosting a major tournament. The change though would mean that FIFA and its affiliates would have to radically change the footballing calendar for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons which of course is no easy task. There might be related costs and maybe loss of revenue. All the same, if countries (especially African countries who have a penchant of not planning in time) would need to have an idea of what it may feel like in 11 years, better catch the next flight to the Gulf emirate of Qatar!

No comments: