Football associations are responsible for 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar - not fans or journalists

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is going ahead thanks to support from football associations around the world, and not for any other reason. There has been outrage aplenty over this World Cup due to the deaths of migrant workers and attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community from the host country. At this point, it’s no secret this World Cup was awarded for corrupt reasons. If you need a reminder, give the new ‘FIFA Uncovered’ documentary a watch on Netflix.

Given how impenetrable that group of FIFA executives were, there is not an awful lot people on the outside could have done about the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar. But there is plenty that could have been done afterwards.

To be clear, the FIFA executive committee - which was the group responsible for the selection of host countries, was a select group of individuals voted for to make specific key decisions on behalf of member nations. The selection of host nations was one of those decisions, and many of the people responsible for the selection of Qatar have since been booted out amid allegations of corruption. The committee has since been renamed the ‘FIFA Council’, which includes a larger group of executives in a bid to limit corruption taking hold.

But FIFA, as a whole, is made up of all the member nations, the associations behind the national teams. Meaning, when FIFA stick to a decision like the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar, it does so because of the support of the majority - not all - of its members.

So, if nations were as outraged by Qatar’s hosting of this World Cup as they say they are, they would have taken bold steps to prevent it early on. From minute one, when Qatar was selected over the USA and Russia and over England, it was clear that something was amiss. But no association was outraged enough to make a statement by withdrawing from the qualification process for these World Cups. Legal action, particularly from the US, later proved the corruption.

Sure, FIFA wouldn’t have lost much sleep had a few of the smaller nations done this, but had England, France, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Brazil or any footballing nation of that ilk felt strongly enough about the situation to boycott, they would have had to take notice.

No one did. United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Mauritania all threatened to do so in 2017, dubbing Qatar a ‘base of terrorism’, but again, no one did. In fact, Saudi Arabia wound up qualifying and will be in Qatar to compete this winter, a year after restoring political peace with the host country, along with the allies mentioned.

In the lead up to the World Cup, we have seen plenty of empty protests. Denmark are wearing a shirt where their badge is not clearly visible, nor is the Hummel logo. But again, if they felt that strongly about not being associated with Qatar, why are they playing there? It’s pretty clear that’s just a nice PR move from Hummel to sell more shirts.

Companies have also put out facades, such as BrewDog, who rallied behind a promotional campaign, dubbing themselves ‘Anti Qatar World Cup’ having agreed a distribution deal to sell their beverages in Qatar. Such empty ‘look at me, I’m the good guy’ promotional campaigns have been all too common.

I’m not much better. As a Welshman, I would have been proud of my nation had they boycotted the qualification process for this World Cup, but they did not. Instead, Wales will be at their first World Cup in 64 years and I will be watching at my home, in Spain. At this point, I don’t feel I should be denied the chance to see my country - that I have backed home and abroad over many years - at their first World Cup in a generation because of FIFA’s corruption.

But I am also acutely aware that I will be contributing the television numbers that will define this World Cup’s success. I’m not profiting from the World Cup, and I wouldn’t have attended if you offered me a free, all-expenses paid trip to Qatar, but I will be watching. I take responsibility for that, and I applaud those who will be staying away altogether.

Having said that, the fact that this World Cup is going ahead is not my fault nor yours. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp recently tried to put the blame on journalists, and it’s not theirs - and being a journalist I could say ‘ours’ - fault either. In fact, we may not know the depth of the corruption at FIFA if it wasn’t for the hard work of journalists, and Klopp should be thanking them for that. In football, where these decisions are made, his words are worth 10,000 of those of a journalist, and he has largely chosen not to use them in relation to this World Cup over recent years. Still, it’s not Klopp’s fault, either.

The fault lies with the associations who have stayed silent, playing FIFA’s game. The FIFA chiefs know the World Cup carries too much FOMO - Fear of Missing Out - for countries to commit to a boycott. It’s for that reason, above all others, that associations haven’t shown the bravery that was required to push this World Cup off the rails.

There’s a monetary aspect, too. There is a $1billion prize money fund involved in the World Cup, and associations pocket $10.5million just for qualifying. There is a further $12million available for reaching the knockout stage, and eventual winners can take home as much as $47.5million. None of those fees include the increased sponsorship opportunities involved in being a qualified World Cup team.