by Matt Allen, swissinfo.ch
May 30, 2014 – 11:00
While protests in Brazil overshadow the on-pitch spectacle to come, football’s Zurich-based ruling body FIFA has been facing harsh criticism for its choice of host countries for the 2018 and 2022 editions: Russia and Qatar.
The association has admitted it made a mistake by planning to hold the 2022 tournament in the scorching summer months in Qatar. At the same time, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and involvement in eastern Ukraine has led to condemnation and sanctions from Western powers.

The timing could not have been worse for FIFA executives, led by the body’s Swiss president, Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, who were already battling to contain the fall-out of violent public protests in the build-up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which kicks off on June 12.

The roots of public unease about the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar lie in the opaque voting system employed four years ago to select these countries.

Politicians, celebrities and royalty lobbied FIFA’s 24-person executive committee hard to secure their votes. The final decision for both Russia and Qatar was announced after a secret ballot and was greeted with cat-calls of derision and allegations of foul play and bribery.

“We cannot expect only flawless societies to host such tournaments. If we only want perfect democracies to host the World Cup, then we have to construct facilities in Iceland and keep them in place,” Jens Andersen, international director of pressure group Play the Game, told swissinfo.ch.

“It is very fair that Russia and Qatar got the chance to host the World Cup. But there are a number of indications that the bidding process was corrupt and that the final decision to award the tournament to these two countries was not fair and square.”

He added that the fact that the tournament went to the two countries with the poorest technical reports was “suspicious”.

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