Obama: Qatar wrong choice for 2022

Barack Obama, the US
president, has said that Fifa, the
world governing football body
erred in awarding the 2022
World Cup to Qatar instead of
his country.
"I think it was the wrong
decision," Obama told reporters
at the White House on
Thursday.
He said he remained optimistic
that the US team would make it
to the finals.
Fifa selected Qatar over bids
from the US, Japan, South
Korea and Australia to play host
for the games in 2022.
Russia won the right to stage
the 2018 World Cup.
The US Football Federation
spent millions of dollars on its
bid. Bill Clinton, the former US
president, was highly involved in
the process and participated in
the closing presentation.
Those pushing the US bid had
hoped that bringing the World
Cup back to the country for the
first time since 1994 would
boost the slow but steady
growth of football in America.
Qatar hailed Thursday's decision
as a victory over misconceptions
about the country's bid.
The Gulf state was initially seen
as an outsider, regarded by
many as too small and hot to
stage the tournament.
It will now become the smallest
country to host the World Cup
after convincing Fifa that its
plans to build carbon-neutral
air-conditioned stadiums to
combat the searing summer
heat are viable.
Thanking Fifa for their "bold
vision", Sheikh Mohammed bin
Hamad al-Thani, the bid
committee chairman, said: "We
started off being written off, the
unconventional bid, the bid that
nobody saw coming, that
nobody thought had a chance
to win".
"As you can recall, there were
several tournaments with similar
climates to Qatar but because
of the misconceptions, it was
difficult to combat those, to
prove ourselves on the world
stage.
"One of the most important was
Qatar cannot do it because
Qatar is too hot. It's very
important to have faith as Fifa
did when they went to South
Africa in 2010 and it's important
to get beyond these
perceptions."
Qatari triumph
Sheikh Mohammed said that
another misconception was that
women in the Middle East were
not allowed to play football,
adding that Qatar was setting
up a professional women's
championship.
"The perception that women
are oppressed is another wrong
perception," he said.
"We will deliver with passion
and make sure this is a
milestone in the history of the
Middle East and a milestone for
Fifa."
Sheikh Mohammed said Fifa's
decision was "a statement of
trust, of loyalty to the game".
"On behalf of millions of people
in the Middle East, thank you
for believing in us, thank you
for having such bold vision. I
can promise we will not let you
down," he said.
"Most importantly [for the
people of the Middle East],
rather than watching a World
Cup overseas across thousands
of miles, it's finally at their
door ... finally being recognised
by Fifa as an integral part of the
footballing world.
"To Fifa, thank you for
acknowledging this is the right
time for the Middle East, we
have a date with history," he
said.

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