*Condemns England’s reaction

By Onochie Anibeze
Former Vice  Chairman of Nigeria Football Association, Nwabufo Obienu has said that Qatar may turn out to host a “very special and beautiful World Cup in 2022 and everybody should support them.”

FIFA

The Middle East country won the bid to host the World Cup in 2022, beating the likes of USA and Australia.
They probably reaped from FIFA’s decision to spread the game to countries which have the capacity but which have never had a chance to host World Cup. Obienu continued:

“When South Africa was awarded the 2010 World Cup how many people gave them chance to host a successful World Cup? Only Sepp Blatter (FIFA President) stood by them.

At the end we all saw what happened. It will be same with Qatar. Watch it and mark my words, Qatar will host a very beautiful World Cup and the memories will linger long after their hosting. I say this because they have the resources and they have shown great enthusiasm and commitment to stage a special World Cup.”He spiced his support for Qatar with what  appeared a joke but which probably weighed in his heart.

“People should not forget the legacies Qatar promised. They promised to collapse some stadiums and distribute their structures to some developing countries. It will be nice for Nigeria to have some and one set up in Nnewi (his hometown) as charity begins at home.”
Obienu equally commended FIFA for voting Russia the host for 2018 World Cup on the grounds that Russia had never hosted the World Cup too.

“I support this idea to spread the World Cup. It will help the growth of the game. We can’t continue going to the same countries every time. But I think that what worked against England was their campaign against FIFA men. They tried to rubbish FIFA as a corrupt body and at the same time wanted them to vote for them. In a way, that was some blackmail. The FIFA men are human beings. They have feelings. The campaign of England media against FIFA men worked against their bid and their loss was Russia’s gain.”

Obienu went further to condemn England for their reactions: “Their reactions smack of some arrogance and an attitude of destroy what you can’t get. The impression they are creating is that only England can host the best World Cup and every other country should queue behind them. They have taken their case against FIFA too far. They are wrong.”

The temperature during summer in Qatar sometimes goes above 50 degrees centigrade but the Qatar Bid Committee said a technology to aircondition the stadiums will be developed. But now there are talks to convince FIFA to reschedule the 2022 games to hold in January or thereabout.