World Cup Politics
The perception is that the minds of the 22 FIFA members were already made up, either through vote trading or through friendships and contacts over many years.
The winning bids were backed by gargantuan budgets. Anyone with an ear to the ground has known for two years that Russia and especially Qatar were spending huge resources from their oil and gas riches to win the monthlong extravaganza. …FIFA has bought a two-way ticket into the unknown. There may be good cause to challenge the secretive committee in charge of the world game. But there is no doubt now about its willingness to buy into a future for the World Cup that until Thursday nobody foresaw.
