Where were you 12 years old?

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Last week, the head coach of Liverpool and the conscience of the football world, Jurgen Klopp, said that the World Cup is 2022 as a fan, and asked not to put pressure on the players:

“Now nothing to do with Qatar and his desire to accept the World Cup: he is very close. <...> I do not like it when the players are put in the position in which they are obliged to speak out. You are journalists - you will speak out. You have not written [enough] a critical article about this. Not about Qatar, but about how he was chosen, although this is obvious. <...> Now we tell the players that they should put on such a bandage, and if they do not, then they are on the other side. No! <...> The players go there, play and laid out in full for the sake of [their] country, this has nothing to do with circumstances. I already see questions in the news: what is it to be there? <...> But this is a competition, it takes place in this country, and we admit it, because 12 years ago no one did anything. ”

The full (almost eight -minute) tirade of Klopp can be seen here . The German several times clearly said that the choice of Qatar is abnormal, that journalists, not football players were supposed to fight this, and that now it is impossible to transfer the tournament to another country.

In his speech - two contexts: concrete and general. Right now he asks to lag behind the players. Globally - indicates that the system is broken and it turned out not yesterday.

At any stage of history, world championships were used by autocracies as soft power tools. Of course, not all tournaments were like that, but this is a common practice that Benito Mussolini began in 1934. For the sake of rallying the nation, he was ready to organize a beautiful picture for tourists and fans, invest in stadiums to create a unique atmosphere, use any means, including pressure on judges, for the sake of the result. Italy won the championship, and the show turned out to be so bright that others wanted to repeat.

It was inspired by Mussolini, the Brazilian dictator of the tokeliu Vargas caught fire to the idea of holding the tournament in 1942. Due to the Second World War, it took place only in 1950-after the overthrow and before the re-election of Vargas. In Argentina-1978, the same technique was played by the military junta Jorge of Sawa. The 2018 World Cup left us a lot of pleasant memories (perhaps the best month of the reign of Vladimir Putin), but also fits well into this trend.

FIFA's readiness to respond to tempting offers of autocrats has an economic explanation that works even without assumptions about conspiracy and backstage corruption. The cost of building stadiums and infrastructure of the tournament falls on the host country (after 2010 - as a rule, it is about $ 12 billion), and the FIFA receives income from broadcasts and sponsors (about five billion dollars - almost $ 2.6 billion after deduction of prize costs, the organization of broadcasts and other expenses). Read more with the data in this study .

The hostess is in a position where you need to spend a huge amount, and only tourism leaves it as a source of FIFA income. The effect can be different: in some cases, only the redistribution of tourist flows was recorded (the same arrives, but from other countries), in some an increase, but far from the order to attract billions to the economy.

As a result, the country remains with a positive press and some long -term benefits: the use of football infrastructure in the future, the potential return of satisfied tourists. The World Cup is unprofitable from an economic point of view, but good as an expensive proven PR formula.

There are two more important factors. Firstly, the researchers recorded an increase in the subjective level of happiness of the population after tournaments-honey for the ears of autocrats. Secondly, such modes (even if they turn out to be short-lived) think for decades, and the hostess is chosen 8-12 years before the tournament. In democracies, this often means a gift to the next government - therefore, the application for holding is limited by the resources of the local football federation. There are no such restrictions for autocrats and dictatorships.

The latter circumstance is partially smoothed out that among the football top-support with the finished infrastructure almost everything-democracy (they will have to spend less on organization), but the general balance of pluses and minuses is obvious. Applications from interested autocrats will always be more expensive and brighter. Frequent flirting of FIFA with dubious modes is not news or a surprise.

Nevertheless, the case of Qatar is egregious. Previously, FIFA's decisions could be explained by attempts to keep the balance between their own interests and the quality of the football show. Now they have chosen a country that:

a) even for a month, the obscurantist elements of the structure of society cannot turn off: for example, recently, one of the ambassadors of the tournament, Khalid Salman called homosexuality the “defect of the mind”;

b) in the course of preparation “killed”, according to The Guardian , more than six and a half thousand workers;

c) had a zero football infrastructure and received a tournament for fantastic promises of new stadium cooling technologies, which will allow you to play at a temperature of 40-50 degrees. The project failed - I had to transfer the tournament at the end of November.

This is the first winter world championship in history. The football calendar is broken. Never before the last match of club tournaments (before - the final of the Champions League, this year - just games of national tournaments) and the first match of the World Cup was not such a short pause. It used to be at least 16 days: most players provided this for 3-4 weeks for rest and preparation (few play in club finals of the end of the season). Now the players have a week for anything.

Moreover, the winter break for the intensive tournament of the national teams puts in the position of complete uncertainty of physical training specialists. The cycles developed and debugged for years will not work. Everyone is forced to experiment and study on the go. There will be a lot of extra injuries. Even the best experiments will remain only successful examples in the lousy for all situations.

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola recently joked (was he joked?) That in the matches immediately after the World Cup he will have to play in the support zone, and his colleague, the same clop, will close the position of the left defender. Due to internal stories, victories, the entourage of the World Cup in any condition and in any country will remain a football holiday, but we will pay dearly for this holiday.

In fairness, it cannot be said that Qatar did not try. The emirate authorities invested about $ 200 billion in the tournament (almost 20 times more than any other owners). Already at the preparation stage, laws that protect the rights of workers were adopted (although private problems with their use are still recorded). For each statement in the spirit of Salman you can find a more balanced official position. For example, the head of the organizing committee Namer al-Hater during the interview even suggested that the journalist Sky Sports “follow the handle” to prove that nothing terrible with the fans will happen.

In each direction, Qatar moved out of the dead point, but did not do enough. The problem is not in a particular country, but in the system that makes such countries favorites. Qatar is only a symptom of the disease. I would like to believe that it is clear enough to learn a lesson and start treatment.

All the described problems could be predicted, but their eyes were deliberately closed on them. The FIFA Committee, who chose Qatar in 2010, consisted of 24 people. Two was removed due to the investigation of The Times a month before the vote. Of the 22 remaining 16, either disqualified (for corruption and ethical violations), or are under suspicion. In addition, three members of the Committee were charged with financial relations with Qatar, but did not find sufficient evidence to start the investigation.

All these are only indirect arguments, but even the FIFA architect in the current form and the ex-president of the SEPP Blatter organization admitted that the choice of Qatar is a mistake. Alas, such clarity of consciousness occurs only after leaving the post (and the trial). In attempts to protect the Qatar, the current FIFA forbids even a completely herbivore slogan in the training form of the Denmark: “Human Rights for All” (probably, if no one had forbade anything, the Danes would have flew from the other side - for the caution and blurry of the Episten).

At the beginning of the month, FIFA President Gianni Infantino sent a letter to football federations of 32 countries participating in the World Cup. Inside there was a request "not to allow football to be drawn into each of the existing ideological and political battles." The terrible advice for football players, whose right to participate in public life should not be limited, but excellent for the football organization itself.

Where were you 12 years old?

On November 20, the World Cup begins in Qatar. What is wrong with him and who is to blame for this, explains the sports journalist Vadim Lukomsky