{"id":4593,"date":"2015-06-03T10:37:11","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T09:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=4593"},"modified":"2015-06-03T10:37:11","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T09:37:11","slug":"qatar-world-cup-organizers-ready-to-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/qatar-world-cup-organizers-ready-to-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Qatar World Cup organizers ready to fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Qatar<\/a>Organizers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have indicated they will not relinquish the right to host soccer\u2019s showpiece event easily, whatever the fall-out from Sepp Blatter\u2019s decision to step down as FIFA president.
\nBlatter, who counted the nations of the Arabian Gulf among his strongest allies, rocked the world of soccer on Tuesday by unexpectedly saying he would step down as FIFA president in the wake of a corruption investigation.
\nNo sooner had the Swiss announced his decision than English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke raised the possibility that the controversial vote that awarded Qatar the tournament could be re-run.
\n\u201cIf I was the Qatari organizers I wouldn\u2019t sleep very well tonight,\u201d the former TV executive told British media.
\n\u201cI think if the evidence comes out which shows the bidding processes were above board that\u2019s fine. If it shows they were corrupt then obviously the bids should be re-done, it\u2019s as simple as that.\u201d
\nSheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Thani, President of the Qatar Football Association, hit back immediately.
\n\u201cMr Dyke\u2019s instinct to immediately focus on stripping Qatar of the World Cup speaks volumes on his views concerning what will be the first FIFA World Cup to take place in the Middle East,\u201d he said in a statement.
\n\u201cWe would urge Mr Dyke to let the legal process take its course and concentrate on delivering his promise to build an England team capable of winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.\u201d
\nQatar beat Australia, Japan, the United States and South Korea to win the right to host the tournament, but the ballot has been dogged by allegations of corruption ever since.
\nThe summary of an internal FIFA investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, released in 2014, cleared the Qatar bid of wrongdoing.
\nFormer U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia, who conducted the probe, later resigned, however, and said the summary contained \u201cnumerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations\u201d of facts and conclusions in his report.
\nThe Swiss Attorney General announced its own probe into the bidding processes after local police arrested several FIFA officials in Zurich last week.
\nAs well as the corruption allegations, Qatar has had to wage a public relations battle over why a country with little football history and where summer temperatures regularly top 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) should host the tournament.
\n\u201cQatar was never understandable – to have a World Cup in the middle of summer in Qatar when even FIFA\u2019s health and safety people advised not to do it,\u201d Dyke added on Tuesday.
\nQatar organizers have consistently denied all allegations of corruption and Al-Thani said they would continue to cooperate with investigations into the bidding process.
\n\u201cHaving already cooperated fully with Mr. Garcia\u2019s investigation – and been subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing – we welcome the Office of the Swiss Attorney General conducting its own work into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups,\u201d his statement added.<\/p>\n

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