“I haven’t seen a slave in Qatar yet. They are all free.” With this quote, Franz Beckenbauer, the man who oscillates between world champion and soup clown, once set the tone for endless discussions about this world championship. I was pleased that the headlights swung from the purchased German summer fairy tale towards the desert.
And then they poured in, investigative reporters. And he brought home one film after another. There was not much new or revelation. The cumulative processing of the last few years around the award of this World Cup is scary enough.
FIFA is the most slippery construction since the invention of mild soap. Sheik Gianni Infantino achieved the impossible. And he made sure that the image of the governing body of world football fell even deeper into the basement.
It is reported that 150 million bribes were paid. For the World Cup, which costs 150 billion. We know that there was bribery and fraud. And also about what is happening in the desert state. Former national team player Thomas Hitzlperger also left the team. And encourages fans to boycott. He flies to Qatar as a TV expert. His employer must refund the millions he paid for the rights.
The Swiss Guido Tognoni also finds himself in the spotlight of German television and gives a thumbs up. “I saw how the world championships were awarded due to corruption processes,” he says. Right in the middle, not just.
Only: FIFA has been his employer for years. UEFA too. He was later paid by Qatar as a consultant. When he apparently stood next to the corrupt World Cup awards, he was silent as a fish.
Criticism of this World Cup award and in some parts of the organizer can be correct and appropriate. But this is shameless hypocrisy, these corrosive double standards are almost as bad. The list of footballers who have already made a career in the Qatari league is long. In addition to Stefan Effenberg and Mario Basler, Hakan Jakin, the brother of our national coach, also played in the desert state. “Doha is like Schwamendingen,” he told Blick about the Qatari capital. To be more precise: “Dubai is like Zurich. City. Doha is a village. Like a sponge.”
And long before Sheikh Janni, Hakan Yakin also rejoiced: “The World Cup in Qatar will be the best world championship of all time. There will be a great atmosphere on the set.”
Many people who are now ranting are being hypocritical in these weeks. Wellness on the Bürgenstock in Qatar? Dine in the Bernese Schweizerhof Qatari? Breathe a sigh of relief when the Qataris lend a helping hand to Credit Suisse? Qatar is everywhere.
So, it’s time to finally get started. Because the ball will soon be the only one who can still look in the mirror in connection with this World Cup without blushing.