Qatar started lobbying for the World Cup in, I believe, 2009. FIFA in its wisdom at the time decided to offer two World Cups in the same vote. That created conditions ripe for even more skullduggery than have been the norm before. If you sort me out, hook me up for 2018, we will work behind the scenes to help you in 2022. Scratch my back, I'll scratch yours and let's come up with a deal. All of this on the face of it, based on FIFA's rules and regulations at the time, yes, they had rules and regulations. But all of this was taking place. Ethics rules flew in the face of those, but
Soccer is sometimes called “the second religion of the Arab World,” and Qatar is the region’s first country to host the World Cup. But FIFA’s pick of the desert nation comes with boundless controversy.
This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Efim Shapiro, and hosted by Noel King.
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