World Cup 2022 Bid : Qatar to Host

On Thursday, FIFA's Executive Committee members voted for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, beating out Australia as well as the USA, South Korea, and Japan.

The general, immediate reaction amongst the mainstream media both reporting from within Australia and tweeting/reporting back from Zurich was one of utter disgust, disappointment and contempt.

There is the idea that Qatar are undeserved winners, but nothing is further from the truth - to put things into perspective, I was personally contacted by the public relations representative for Qatar's bid some months ago of his own volition.

In complete contrast, the Aussie bid team were largely invisible in the attempts to get in contact.

This best highlights a sense of 'positive desperation' for Qatar to please the entire world rather than champion their own inherent cultural strengths and offerings in their attempt to land the tournament and unsurprisingly it worked.

A pundit made a salient point on Aussie television that Qatar's bid was characterised by its willingness to address issues that logically should have ruled it out form ever hosting a World Cup, like the weather. The fact is Qatar went out of their way to host this tournament and have been rightly rewarded.

Of course, the flawed bidding process and unsurprising leak of winners hasn't made the news easier to swallow for the pundits down under - but in the end the best bid won.

he prospect of a winter World Cup in 2022 took a step forward after European football chiefs agreed a summer event could not be played in Qatar.

Summer temperatures in the Gulf state can reach 50C, sparking health fears for players and fans alike.

Uefa's 54 member associations backed the switch at a meeting in Croatia.

"The World Cup cannot be played in Qatar in the summer," said Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce. "Everyone was certainly in agreement about that."