By FRANCO PANIZO
You might not have the 2022 calendar just yet, but you can circle a date in December once you do.
FIFA confirmed on Thursday that the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar will be played on December 18, which happens to be the country’s national day. There was no word as to when the tournament would start, but there is a chance that it is shortened to 28 days instead of its usual 32.
Last month, a FIFA taskforce recommended that the 2022 World Cup be played in the winter months because of the blistering temperatures in Qatar in the summer. Qatar’s winning bid, which has been the subject of much criticism and scandal, initially said games would be played in air-conditioned stadiums in the summer.
Here are other news items from around the soccer world:
FRANCE WINS 2019 WWC HOSTING RIGHTS
This summer’s Women’s World Cup might still be a few months away, but plans are already being made for the next one.
FIFA announced on Thursday that the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held in France, who beat out Korea Republic for the hosting rights. The FIFA Executive Committee made a unanimous decision to give France the tournament, but Korea Republic got a consolation prize in the form of the 2018 Under-20 Women’s World Cup.
Initially, five countries had expressed interest in hosting the competitions. The other three nations were England, New Zealand and South Africa.
KANE EARNS FIRST ENGLAND CALL-UP
The hottest English striker in the game right now has gotten the call.
Tottenham Hotspur forward Harry Kane was selected to England’s squad for the first time on Thursday, and will be in contention to make his international debut later this month in games against Italy and Lithuania. The 21-year-old Kane has been in inspired form for Spurs this season, and is currently third in the Premier League in goals scored with 16.
England faces Lithuania in a Euro 2016 qualifier on March 27, and will then travel to Turin four days later to battle Italy in a friendly.
PARMA DECLARED BANKRUPT
A season’s worth of problems has culminated with Italian club Parma being declared bankrupt.
The Associated Press has reported that Italy’s courts took only 10 minutes in a Thursday hearing to determine that Parma, the last-placed team in Serie A, is broke. The club is reportedly in debt by $110 million, but some outlets are reporting that it owes up to $230 million.
The news comes a day after the new owner of the club, Giampietro Manenti, was arrested on charges of money laundering and embezzlement.
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Still upset about Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup? Thinking about visiting France in four years’ time for the Women’s World Cup? What can Kane bring to the Three Lions?
Share your thoughts below.
The joke keeps going.
So much for the MLS and LigaMX playoffs in 2022..
Floating artificial clouds! Air conditioning the entire country! Miracles!
Or, failing that, we interrupt the most lucrative leagues in the world – many of whom had reps bent enough to take payola to begin with over this farce – stop ’em for a month, and schedule a World Cup in the middle of winter. Yeah, that bid woulda went through just fine.
Oh, and yeah, we’re going to kill about 8,000 slave-workers in the process, but hey, enjoy the show.
FIFA disgusts me. Why is no one standing up to this farce?
A World Cup final seven days before Christmas. That is one heck of a present. I really don’t get why Americans are so bent out of shape about European leagues being interrupted. I don’t get it??? I just don’t get it! Why???
For me, it has nothing to do with whether the European leagues will be disrupted. For me, it’s that the entire process was a sham.
They bid using hyperbole about a June-July World Cup when everyone and their dog knew they couldn’t host it during that timeframe. The entire thing was a sham. Add in the human-rights concerns over their labor, bribery during the bidding process, and general human rights concerns for both fans and athletes, and you have the making of a terrible mistake.
In 1994 the USA hosted a World Cup without even having a professional league. And our bid was based on having a league up and running by 94, which makes sense, because fifa wants host countries to have some history. USA World Cup put butts in the seats, so fifa was able to overlook this transgression.
I don’t think we can talk about qatar buying votes without acknowledging that chuck blazer, an American soccer official, was skimming money out of CONCACAF coffers.
Migrant workers in Qatar come from countries where the minimum wage is ridiculously low, not to speak of worker rights in countries like Nepal and India. They are non existent. Couple this with 50 somethings looking to work in the desert and deaths are going to occur, and even though they do, and are, at high rates, people will line up to get these jobs.
“Migrant workers in Qatar come from countries where the minimum wage is ridiculously low, not to speak of worker rights in countries like Nepal and India. They are non existent. Couple this with 50 somethings looking to work in the desert and deaths are going to occur, and even though they do, and are, at high rates, people will line up to get these jobs.”
That may be, but it is still slavery. Modern day slavery to entertain the masses. No ands, ifs or buts. End of discussion.
I doubt that.
I don’t care about the European leagues being inconvenienced. I don’t mind moving it to the winter to accommodate a hosting nation because of weather since it would be unfair to never allow a global sport to not be played in certain regions because of weather.
What I don’t like and won’t support is the obvious corruption behind it for one.
Forget the corruption. Modern day slavery. And by a country that is one of the richest per capita in the world. Utterly disgusting.
FIFA. FIFA never changes.
#BOYCOTT FIFA
The Romans waged soccer to gather slaves and wealth