ECA not to join international calendar talks

The European Club Association will not be joining a meeting on March 5 at FIFA House in Zurich on the international match calendar from 2015 onwards up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. FIFA has invited all stakeholders involved in world football to discuss issues related to the calendar which includes the release of players by their respective clubs for international tournaments, qualifiers and friendlies.

The relationship between the European Club Association and world football governing body FIFA hasn't been the best and the ECA believes that FIFA along with the national FA's pack the yearly schedule with too many dates for qualifiers and friendlies, currently 12 to 13 a year plus World Cup's and continental championships.

Over 200 European football clubs are part of the ECA and they say their chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and general secretary Michele Centenaro declined invitations from FIFA to attend the meeting on March 5.

THE ECA has an own meeting set for February 27/28 in Warsaw, Poland where they will be presenting their own proposal for an international calendar after getting inputs from their member clubs.

Now with the ECA to go unrepresented at the FIFA meeting a week later, one will have to see if their proposal will come-up for discussions or not.

Al Kass International Cup Under-17 2012 in Doha, Qatar

Some of the biggest clubs in world football will be sending their youth teams to the Qatari capital Doha to compete in the first edition of a new international football tournament to be named as the Al Kass International Cup Under-17. The annual event will be held from January 8 to 17, 2012 at the outdoor football pitches at Aspire Zone in Doha.

The competition is being organized by Al Dawri & Al Kass Sports Channel (Al Kass), together with the Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF).

"This is going to be the first edition of an annual event that is set to further contribute to building on the foundations of a proud footballing nation up to the FIFA World Cup 2022 and beyond," said Issa Bin Abdulla Al-Hitmi, general manager of Al Kass.

The initiative is expected to benefit the global youth football movement as emerging junior teams from top clubs such as FC Paris Saint-Germain (France), Vasco da Gama (Brazil), Juventus (Italy), AFC Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands), FC Barcelona (Spain), Kashima Antlers (Japan), Al Jazira (UAE) and Al Ahly (Egypt) discover new frontiers, build partnerships and make lifelong friendships.

The teams will be competing to win the the trophy for first place along with a 200,000 USD cash prize to be allocated to the winning club. There will also be awards given to the most valuable player of each match. The local Aspire Academy will also have two teams participating in the Cup, Aspire Qatar and Aspire International.

"Aspire Zone is honoured to be hosting such an innovative tournament to support youth development in football. The Aspire Academy has a strong history of hosting visiting youth football teams for friendly matches against our Aspire teams and the Al Kass International Cup U-17 will give our boys valuable experience. The players on display could be the future stars of world football so we just may see them returning to Qatar in 2022 to play in the FIFA World Cup," observed Ivan Bravo, Director General of Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence.

"Through the friendships forged during the annual Al Kass International Cup U-17, clubs will build a lasting relationship and intimacy with Qatar and its beautiful football stadiums leading all the way up to World Cup 2022," said Hamad Al-Mannai, director of the Al Kass International Cup U-17.

"We already know that Qatar is investing in the future of football and Doha is propelling itself as one of the leading sports capitals of the world, and we look forward to having a world class level of sportsmanship at the tournament," added Al-Mannai.

Officials said that all three stakeholders behind the initiative stand to gain from each other's expertise and contribute collectively to the growth of a footballing culture in Qatar and around the region.

With the tournament being held during football's winter break and located in a part of the world that truly bridges the East and the West, Ward Abdallah, head of the tournament's media committee, asserted that Al Kass U-17 has the tools required to communicate with the world's football community, "We will be launching a new website and using social media tools to ensure that we can reach and communicate directly with our Al Kass U-17 football community."

A number of key sponsors have already signed up to become part of a tournament of Al Kass International U-17's standing. These include Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, Qatar National Bank, Fifty One East, Qatar Stars League, Q.media, Ritz Carlton Hotel, Mannai Air Travel, QVision, Qatar Airways, The Look Company, and Swiss Open Air.

Football: Three halves of 30 minutes each?

Could in future football matches be split into three halves of 30 minutes each instead of the usual two halves of 45 minutes?

In connection with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar the idea has come up to consider to have matches with two in stead of one break to allow players a chance for better recovery in the hot conditions.

Interestingly such a chance in rules of the game can be made for certain circumstances and hot conditions surely is one, but FIFA and their broadcast players will surely also see a value in the 3x30 minutes match schedule for slotting in additional advertising during such a second break.

But the Qatar 2022 BID committee wants to stay away from such a controversy which the second after discussions where held earlier if the 2022 FIFA World Cup should be played in the winter due to the heat in the desert in the summer months.

An official statement from the 2022 Qatar 2022 BID Committee said

Splitting the games held during the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has not been discussed at any time. Statements on this subject made yesterday by Mr. Beaven from ARUP are without any foundation. All 64 games in 2022 will be played in carbon neutral cooled stadiums in two halves of forty-five minutes as per regulations.

Representatives from ARUP are not spokespeople for Qatar 2022.

What do you think? Should football remain 2x45 or switch to 3x30?

Artificial Clouds at Qatar World Cup?

The weirdest and craziest of idea's have been mentioned in connection with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, if the tournament is held in the hot Arabian summer. The latest idea to make headlines are artificial clouds which could give footballers and fans alike a cover from direct rays of the sun during matches.

The head of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Qatar University, Dr. Saud Abdul Ghani, a few days ago unveiled a first design of the construction of an artificial cloud to shade and cool a football stadium during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. If the project sees the day of light then it would be executed in collaboration with the Qatar Science and Technology Park.

Talking about the artificial cloud it would be made of 100 percent light carbonic materials, fuelled by four solar-powered engines and it would fly above venues to protect them from direct and indirect sun rays to reduce and control temperatures. Such an eco-friendly artificial cloud would be controlled by a remote.

Coming to talk about the price Dr. Saud Abdul Ghani said initially such an artificial cloud would cost US$ 500,000; but the price could come down with industrial production as such a product could be used in desert areas, beaches or car parks.

When I first read the story I was thinking, another one of those crazy ideas but if you think about it seriously forgetting the football aspect then it could be something which could help populations in regions with high intensity sun impact. But still I would continue to hope for a winter World Cup in Qatar.

Does Qatar want to buy Manchester United?

The small Gulf state of Qatar has been making headline news in the world of football in December 2010. First they were given the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, then the Qatar Foundation became the first paying sponsor of Catalan giants FC Barcelona in a deal worth 165 Million Euros and now rumours suggest that the Qatar Holdings are interested in buying English Premier League giants Manchester United from their American owners the Glazer family.

The Qataris could place a 1,5 Billion Pound bid for the Red Devils, but the club was quick to deny that their American owners the Glazer family are in any mood to sell the club which they bought under massive fan protests about five and a half years ago in 2005. And the club has been put under financial pressure by the Glazers as they made their buy only possible by financing it through bank loans, which are an unnecessary burden on the club.

At least for now speculations were ended by Manchester United communications director Phil Townsend who insists the club is not for sale. "There is nothing in this," he told the Manchester Evening News. "The club have had no approach at all and it is not for sale."

But as those who know the business know that such things can change very quickly. Especially due to the fact that the Qatar Holdings have asset in the region of 40 Billion Pounds. And through such a takeover United could challenge their city rivals Manchester City who were taken over by the Abu Dhabi royal family's Sheikh Mansour and have spend a few hundreds millions on their squad since then to challenge for the Premiership title.

And as mentioned earlier Qatar is trying to make a name for itself around the world using football. Actually very few know that Spanish Primera Division side FC Málaga had been bought in June 2010 by Sheikh Abdullah al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family. And now maybe Manchester United is on Qatar's radar after earlier talks with FC Everton didn't get the desired results.

Valcke: Winter World Cup possible!

It seems FIFA is willing to at least think about a winter 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. That is the impression one gets if one listens to FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, who is currently in the Guld region for the FIFA Club World Cup being played in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The idea of a winter World Cup was first raised by Franz Beckenbauer, who happens to be a FIFA Executive Committee member, he had said, "We need to consider this solution of January and February when in Qatar the temperatures are around a pleasant 25 degrees. Why would that not be acceptable? The schedules for the big European leagues are due to be changed in 2012 and that would mean the impact would be less."

And the FIFA Executive Committee is the forum where the issue needs to be raised according to Valcke, "For now that's not the case. It's too early to talk about a change to what is part of the Qatari bid which was the one on which the executive committee members made their decision."

Valcke would add a different dimension to the issue and say, "If you can do so, it would be a solution to open the organisation of the World Cup to a number of countries in this period which is winter in Europe but not winter in the rest of the world."

So it seems the FIFA General Secretary would consider such an option if raised through the right channels to spare everyone involved a World Cup in the desert heat of the Gulf. And hopefully Franz himself will raise the issue in the next FIFA ExCo meeting early next year. And then the FIFA internally could discuss the option and find a solution in everyone's interest.

Blatter: Now we conquer China & India!

After handing the 2018 FIFA World Cup to Russia and the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar to conquer new markets in Russia and the Middle East, FIFA is now looking at the next markets it wants to establish football in and those are set to be China and India.

If talk out of Zurich is taken seriously then the 2026 FIFA World Cup could go to the United States, while in 2030 the FIFA World Cup could return to Asia with China and India the top candidates. So we come to some earlier blog entries from me where I had mentioned this as a real opportunity. Surely today India has no chance against China due to its football, infrastructure, administration, etc; but in 20 years? Who knows...

In what will be courting with harsh reactions out of Europe Sepp Blatter told the Swiss weekly magazine 'Weltwoche', "I really sense in some reactions a bit of the arrogance of the western world of Christian background. Some simply can't bear it if others get a chance for a change. What can be wrong if we start football in regions where this sport demonstrates a potential which goes far beyond sport?"

And what should make us in India listen-up is Blatter's following statement, "It's my philosophy to drive forward the expansion of football. The next regions that we need to conquer would be China and India."

Blatter ended by saying, "Football has become a political matter. Heads of state court me. Football has become a monster, but it's a positive monster."

FIFA is already supporting India through the GOAL projects I & II, the 'Win in India with India' program, a grant of US-Dollar 2 Million for infrastructure and other administrative help. So lets see where it takes our football...

Qatar's World Cup in January?

A lot of people are still stunned at the fact that Qatar was given the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the big follow-up discussion is revolving around the summer heat in June/July in the Middle East. Now German football legend Franz Beckenbauer has come out saying why not hold the tournament in January?

Beckenbauer speaking to German tabloid Bild said, "We need to consider this solution of January and February when in Qatar the temperatures are around a pleasant 25 degrees. Why would that not be acceptable? The schedules for the big European leagues are due to be changed in 2012 and that would mean the impact would be less."

"Also it would be a viable alternative to the huge expenses involved in setting up air-conditioning for the stadiums and the fan zones," Beckenbauer added.

The Kaiser has a very valid point there and the Asian Football Confederation could be role model for FIFA in this idea. Qatar will be hosting the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and due to the weather it has been shifted from August to January due to the hot weather conditions which are prevailent in August.

But if FIFA seriously consider such a switch in interest of players, match officials and the fans then they could face tough opposition from the top European leagues. Only the German Bundesliga have a three to four week winter break, while other leagues have shorter breaks and the English Premier League have none at all. And a winter World Cup would mean a minimum break of at least six weeks, ideally eight/nine weeks to accommodate pre-tournament training camps and allow players to rejoin their clubs.

We can look ahead to some interesting discussions over the coming month's and years...

Why Qatar as World Cup hosts?

You should see the feedback in the European media today about Qatar being awarded the hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It is utter disbelieve, many feel it is a joke and then there are the statements which say only money and power within FIFA allowed the small state of Qatar to win the rights to host a World Cup.

Here some reactions:
The Spanish El Mundo had the headline: "The power of gas and oil."

"Russia and Qatar, with projects that were technically very weak but with huge fortunes, win 2018 and 2022 respectively," it added.

In the Netherlands daily AD wrote: "With Qatar, FIFA has chosen an attack on the environment, for a World Cup in air-conditioned stadiums consuming enormous amounts of energy."

Japan's business daily Nikkei said: "Qatar, which has never qualified for the World Cup finals, had a weapon in its abundant financial resources based on oil money," it said.
Just as info, Japan hadn't qualified for a World Cup when it was chosen as a host for 2002.

The Seattle Times simply stated: "Qatar? Really?"

America's Time magazine wrote: "Both Russia and Qatar are ruled by strong, uncompromising governments -- one steered by post-Soviet apparatchiks with the tacit backing of a tycoon oligarchy, and the other the hereditary bequest of a family that can trace itself back to pre-Islamic times."


One thing which the heartland of football Europe still hasn't understood is that club football surely revolves around the UEFA Champions League and the top leagues in England, Spain, Germany and Italy; but the World Cup as it says is a global event and FIFA correctly is looking to spread the game though off course other things matter as well. And with other parts of the world also growing economically an interesting decade is ahead of us with a potential shift elsewhere...

But is it so surprising as many say? Those of us who football Asian football and also know a little bit about how the football business works at the global and continental level, then you will know that Qatar is one of the strongest countries in Asia due to the fact that the Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed bin Hamman is a Qatari. And bin Hamman is seen as a potential successor of current FIFA president Sepp Blatter. So he does have some clout with key members of the executive committee.

So why Qatar? If you look at Asia, then Japan and South Korea have just hosted their World Cup in 2002, Australia is now part of Asian football but not really there yet, so who else remains? In the future the big one's like China and India would be candidates, but not at the moment and then there is the Middle East, but there due to the political climate only a Qatar or the United Arab Emirates could play host for such a massive tournament as the football World Cup. And for the above mentioned reasons Qatar was always first choice in the Middle East.

And the 2011 AFC Asian Cup next month will now become a test for Qatar's capability to organise football events. The Asian show piece event is a good chance to show what they are capable off, but to avoid the summer heat the tournament was shifted to January. And that will be the biggest task of cooling the stadia to a playable temperature if it is close to 50°C in June/July when normally World Cup's are played.

A delighted Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani expressed gratitude for the honour of hosting football's greatest tournament, while insisting that Qatar's historic FIFA World Cup would meet all expectations. "Thank you for believing in change, for expanding the game and for giving Qatar a chance," he said. "You will be proud of us - and you will be proud of the Middle East. I promise you this!"

And one thing you can certainly believe, if Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani is behind a project then it will be success. He will personally ensure that.

FIFA World Cup: 2018 in Russia, 2022 in Qatar

Switzerland's Zurich was the place that the whole football world looked towards on this December 2, 2010 as world football governing body FIFA announced the hosts for the 2018 & 2022 FIFA World Cup's. And for many the decisions came as a big surprise. Russia were named hosts for 2018 and an even bigger upset came in the form of the tiny emirate of Qatar being chosen as the hosts of the 2022 edition.

Football insiders have been saying for the last couple of days that Russia and Qatar are the likeliest candidates to win the bidding process, but global public opinion thought that England or Spain/Portugal in 2018 and USA in 2022 where the countries set to win. But the decision wasn't about football only, it was about power, money and the global expansion of football to new markets.

In lauding the victorious nations, the FIFA president Sepp Blatter also made a point of praising those who missed out. He said: “I have to say thanks to to the Executive Committee of FIFA because for 2018 and 2022 we go to new lands, because the FIFA World Cup has never been in eastern Europe or the Middle East. So, I'm a happy president when we speak of the development of football.

"But I have to give big compliments to all the bidders for the big job they have done and the messages they have delivered. All have delivered the message that football is more than just a game. Football is not only about winning; it is also a school of life where you must learn to lose, and that is not easy.”

So the decisions for 2018 and 2022 World Cup's have been made and this will have influences on the World Cup's thereafter. 2026 most likely will now go to the United States and if FIFA's global expansion plans continue then Europe could be bypassed in 2030 and the World Cup could return to Asia. And who could be the hosts? The fight would be on between China and India, the final frontiers of world football.


Here an older blog entry from me (June 8, 2010) just before the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup about India's chances to host a football World Cup in the future. Here is the article link: India hosting a football World Cup?


The voting process involved only 22 of the 24 FIFA Executive Committee members as two had been suspended after a sting operation exposed them as willing to accept bribes for their vote. And the following happened in the voting:

2018 FIFA World Cup
Round 1: England 2 votes, Netherlands/Belgium 4 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes, Russia 9 votes (as no absolute majority was reached, the candidate with least amount of votes, England, was eliminated).
Round 2: Netherlands/Belgium 2 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes, Russia 13 votes (Russia obtained an absolute majority).

2022 FIFA World Cup
Round 1: Australia 1 vote, USA 3 votes, Japan 3 votes, Korea Republic 4 votes, Qatar 11 votes (Australia eliminated).
Round 2: Japan 2 votes, USA 5 votes, Korea Republic 5 votes, Qatar 10 votes (Japan eliminated).
Round 3: Korea Republic 5 votes, USA 6 votes, Qatar 11 votes (Korea Republic eliminated).
Round 4: USA 8 votes, Qatar 14 votes (Qatar obtained an absolute majority).