So, we’re at about the halfway point in the 2022 Fifa World Cup and, while I’m delighted that England have yet to deliver our customary quadrennial disappointment, it pains me to say that a competition winner might already be emerging – and, in spite of its feeble performances on the field, it could be Qatar.
I had wanted to stay as outraged throughout the tournament as I had been when the Qatar decision was announced. But then the football got really good and the fans in the stadiums were clearly having a great time and my resolve crumbled faster than Harry Kane could stick a One Love armband back into his kitbag.
Qatar is getting exactly what it wanted: global airtime with billions watching in rapture.
In 2010, shortly before Fifa’s hosting decision, I had assured journalist friends that not even in the darkest recesses of a Zurich boardroom could football’s governing body choose Qatar.
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