Article from Forbes.com on the potential own goal of FIFA deciding that the next 2 editions of the Club World Cup be in Qatar
Qatar Club World Cup 2019 Could Be Own Goal By FIFA - by Steve Price
FIFA confirmed on Monday that the 2019 and 2020 Club World Cup tournaments will be played in Qatar. They will be the last two tournaments in their current format before FIFA’s proposed expansion of the tournament.
For Qatar, it is a chance to test out stadiums and infrastructure ahead of the 2022 World Cup, the head of Qatar’s World Cup organizing committee told Al Jazeera the Club World Cup would give them a chance to test out plans for fan zones and the sale of alcohol to fans, and learn from the experience ahead of Qatar 2022.
Liverpool are one of the sides that will be heading there this December. They will be joined by Mexican side Monterrey, possibly Tunisian side Esperance, who were named African champions in controversial circumstances last week, Hienghene Sport from New Caledonia, and the champions of South America, Asia, and the hosts Qatar.
But using the Club World Cup as a dress rehearsal for Qatar 2022 is just about the only positive of choosing the Gulf state as a host for these matches.
The proposed Club World Cup enlargement faces opposition from clubs in Europe, and one of the justifications for the revamp is that the current Club World Cup is “unloved”.
Part of that is because it is played in the middle of the European season when soccer fans have plenty of other games to choose from. Another factor is the location.
Since Liverpool’s last appearance in the Club World Cup final, when Rafa Benitez’s side lost one-nil to Sao Paulo in 2005, the tournament has only been played in Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.
FIFA talks about growing the game and taking it to new regions, which is fair enough when it does actually “grow the game”, but at the same time, it is alienating the fans of the clubs that are playing in these games. The 20,000 empty seats in Baku for the Chelsea’s Europa League final win over Arsenal last month should have been a wakeup call, a clear sign that by careless expansion, choosing venues based on geopolitics or chasing the highest bidder, FIFA could kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
The decision to play the Club World Cup in Qatar shows that FIFA hasn’t learned anything from Baku. These decisions are a huge part of what has made the Club World Cup “unloved”. The tournament’s average attendances in Japan and Morocco were around 30,000. They dropped to below 20,000 when the Club World Cup was moved to the United Arab Emirates, with one match having just 4,000 fans in attendance. The attendance figures probably won’t be any higher for the upcoming tournaments in Qatar, and if they are, how many of those fans will actually be traveling from Liverpool or South America to watch their team?
Without the passion of supporters who watch their teams every week, is it any wonder why the Club World Cup feels like a bunch of glorified friendly games? If it were played in Madrid or Rio de Janiero then the tournament would create a buzz that would attract TV viewers and sponsors alike. Creating this kind of atmosphere at the tournament will be the real challenge for Qatar’s organizing committee.
The geopolitics at play also makes Qatar seem a bit of an odd choice, especially as a lot of FIFA members are still unhappy about the country being awarded the 2022 World Cup.
Prof Simon Chadwick
@Prof_Chadwick
If true, a very interesting development. Suggests Infantino & FIFA are still playing Middle East politics. Awarding tournaments to Qatar without consideration for KSA, UAE etc. would be a dangerous strategy, suggesting other things are happening behind the scenes.
Rob Harris
✔
@RobHarris
Replying to @RobHarris
Following on from those false reports of no Club World Cup this year - in fact sources say Qatar to host the FIFA event and in 2020
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1:04 PM - Jun 3, 2019
Gianni Infantino spent a lot of time over the past few years making overtures about Qatar sharing the World Cup with regional rivals like the UAE, so while there is no way the UAE deserved this tournament, especially given the poor attendances at the 2019 Asian Cup and at the previous Club World Cup, giving it to their biggest regional rivals is hardly going to get the UAE or Saudi Arabia onside for the 2022 World Cup, which could cause further problems down the line, both logistical and political.
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been using soccer as PR, to present their countries in a positive light. At the same time, this had drawn more attention to the darker side of those two countries, such as the conditions of migrant workers at the World Cup stadiums in Qatar.
There have been calls for a boycott of the 2022 World Cup, but when it comes to soccer’s biggest tournament, many fans will watch the World Cup no matter what.
The Club World Cup on the other hand, well, fans aren’t overly keen on watching it or traveling to Doha to watch the games anyway. The World Cup may be “too big to fail”, but the Club World Cup certainly is not.
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The thing that struck me was - why Qatar? given the gulf issue when FIFA's new tournaments are to be funded to the tune of £25bn by Saudi Arabia via Softbank