QATARSTROPHE: When The Beautiful Game Turns Ugly

— With wire agencies *Qatar World Cup 2022 drama explained!Death. Bribery. Searing heat. One of the world's biggest sports is embroiled in controversy, and the situation is only getting worse. So, what next? WHAT’S THE LATEST? IN AN interview with Sport Bild Plus, Theo Zwanziger, a German member of football’s world governing body FIFA, controversially declared: “I think that at the end of the day the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar.” Zwanziger cited scorching summer temperatures, which can reach upward of 45C, as the reason Qatar would lose the right to host football’s global showpiece. “Doctors say, and I had insisted on this point in the protocol, that they cannot guarantee that a World Cup can be held in summer in these conditions,” he said. While Qatar has reportedly developed stadium cooling systems, Zwanziger added: “The World Cup involves not only stadiums. There are fans coming from the four corners of the world who will be concerned by the heat. “The first incident putting a life in danger will be subject to an investigation. And that, nobody in the FIFA Executive Committee would want to reply to.” WHAT IS QATAR SAYING? THE head of Qatar’s World Cup organising committee, Hassan al-Thawadi, told Die Welt newspaper he was “sure that the 2022 World Cup would take place in Qatar”. “No, I’m not worried,” al-Thawadi said. “Firstly because there’s no basis to lose the World Cup. “And secondly because it’s the first World Cup in the Middle East. “When people think of this region, it’s rather in terms of conflict. The World Cup will be an occasion to unite peoples. It will leave a positive heritage.” The Qatar 2022 World Cup committee also released a statement, which read: “Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022, despite comments of FIFA executive committee member Dr Zwanziger, which reflect his personal opinion and not that of FIFA. “The only question now is when, not if. Summer or winter, we will be ready. We have proven that a FIFA World Cup in Qatar in the summer is possible with state-of-the-art cooling technology. “We have demonstrated that our cooling works in outdoor areas beyond stadiums. This summer we welcomed fans in Doha to an open-air Brazil 2014 Fan Zone with temperatures cooled to a comfortable 22 degrees Celsius.” THE CONTROVERSIES DRAMA has plagued FIFA’s awarding of the World Cup to Qatar in 2010, with reports some 4,000 migrant workers will lose their lives by the time the event rolls around due to the working conditions and extreme hit. Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper has also alleged that former Qatari football boss Mohamed Bin Hammam paid more than $5.6 million to gain support for the emirate ahead of the vote. Qatar has strongly denied the allegations. FIFA’s ethic committee is to announce in early 2015 the results of its investigation into the attribution of not only the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, but also the 2018 edition to Russia. FIFA President Sepp Blatter also said publicly in May that the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a “mistake”. WHAT IS THE MOST LIKELY OUTCOME? FIFA is looking at the option of shifting the tournament to January/February 2022 or November/December 2022. It would be unpopular option because of disruption to the domestic seasons in Europe and around the world. However, it does make the most sense at this stage.