December 2nd, 2010. Nothing to see here, all totally above board. Sepp Blatter’s presence proves that.
But consider this: of the 22 men who voted on who would get to host Qatar ’22 (as no one is calling it), 15 are now either banned from FIFA for life, suspended, imprisoned or fighting extradition to the USA to face federal charges. Or dead. Only one still works for FIFA (source: Eli Mengem on Twitter).
Quite the rogue’s gallery. Jack Warner. Vitaly Mutko. Ricardo Teixeira. The late Chuck Blazer. Fine, upstanding men. And especially Japan’s Junji Ogura – I mean, what is more corrupt than being a “boyhood West Ham fan”?
Footnotes:
- A breakdown of how the delegates voted:
First round: Australia 1, Japan 3, USA 3, South Korea 4, Qatar 11 (Australia out)
Second round: Japan 2 votes, Korea Republic 5 votes, Qatar 10 votes and USA 5 votes (Japan out)
Third round: Korea Republic 5 votes, Qatar 11 votes, USA 6 votes (Korea Republic out)
Fourth round: Qatar 14 votes and USA 8 votes (Qatar obtained absolute majority)