There are many things that disturb me about Saudi Arabia hosting the 2034 World Cup, ranging from obvious and compelling human rights issues to the fact that it will likely be another fixture disrupting winter tournament.

But the thing that is really making my teeth itch right now is that the entire bidding process appears blatantly engineered towards ensuring Saudi Arabia got exactly what they wanted.

While I am sure they will deny it, FIFA has gift-wrapped the 2034 tournament and handed it to the Middle East country on a silver platter; while probably bowing and blowing kisses to the crown prince.

First came the governing body’s hugely controversial announcement that the 2030 tournament would be split between South America, Africa and Europe. This super-conveniently ruled all three continents out of bidding for 2034 due to FIFA’s rotation policy, leaving just Oceania and Asia in the running.

This was followed by the very subtle announcement that the bidding process for 2034 would be brought forward by – er – three years; not months, not weeks, but years! So that gave interested parties just 26 days to declare they would be bidding. You would have to be a pretty cash-rich country to make that sort of multi-billion decision in such a short space of time.

Oh, and FIFA also changed the rules so host countries only needed to have four viable venues ready-built to host the tournament, as opposed to the seven that used to be required.

Within minutes of the reduced deadline being announced, the Saudis confirmed they would be bidding, and that was swiftly followed by the Asian Football Confederation giving them their backing.

That only left Australia as a possible stumbling block to FIFA’s cunning plan as they had been interested in hosting the tournament following their success with the women’s World Cup this summer.

Sadly, last Tuesday, the Ozzies said thanks, but no thanks, after undoubtedly concluding the whole process was a foregone conclusion and that they would be throwing their money away.

And with their withdrawal from the race, the path was cleared for the Saudis to grab the trophy tournament they desperately wanted as their bid to dominate the world of sport gathers momentum.

FIFA has gift-wrapped the tournament on a silver platter, while probably bowing and blowing kisses to the crown prince

As bidding processes go this was about as far from ‘fair’ as you can get. We need to ask if FIFA was promised vast oceans of oil-stained money in return for the tournament.

It would have so much simpler if they just told the football world that anybody was more than welcome to bid for 2034 as long as they met one simple criteria: having a name that started with ‘S’ and ended with ‘audi Arabia’.

I have heard it suggested that a process like this is actually preferable to the normal one which sees potential host countries spending millions on glitzy bids and more millions trying to woo FIFA’s decisions makers. And that could well be true.

Yet it’s hard to see it that way when the ultimate beneficiary of such a manipulated process is a country that many people don’t believe deserves to host football’s showcase tournament.

Given that public opinion is generally against the existing version of Saudi Arabia being given the World Cup, the very least FIFA should have done was made sure it was awarded to them fair and square.

This was anything but.

FIFA has once again misread not just the room but the entire planet...

 

Eight is enough

Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or this week, which was always likely given his all-round brilliance, combined with the fact that he recently led his country to World Cup glory.

That means he now has a record eight of these trophies to use as doorstops around his home, which is three more than any other player has ever managed.

And, despite the fact he has essentially opted for Ballon d’Or retirement thanks to his move to Miami, I don’t see a time when that record is matched.

So that confirms him as football’s GOAT (Greatest of all time) then, I hear some people claiming.

Nope! It just confirms him as the very best at winning football awards.

I’ve said it before, but I will happily say it again – there is no way of ever being able to definitively say who is, or was, the greatest player of all time.

There are too many variables at play and it is way too subjective.

But that doesn’t make everything Messi has achieved in his career any less inspirational.

 

Can it get any worse?

In my pre-season Premier League predictions, I said Sheffield United were destined to have a disastrous spell in the top-flight, which would probably end in relegation.

With a little more than a quarter of the season gone, the club have been busy proving me right, with a return to the Championship now essentially a ‘when’, and not an ‘if’.

But despite having seen this all coming, even I wasn’t prepared for just how awful it would all be. For us Sheffield United fans this is like watching someone you care about involved in a slow-motion car crash. And you know there is still another seven months of glass tinkling, hubcap spinning horror left before the calm of relegation sets in.

At the time of writing, we are talking about 10 games played, zero victories, 29 goals conceded, only seven goals scored, and one, single, solitary point to show for more than a thousand minutes of tortuous football.

The Blades are now the only team in English football – and I include the National League in that grouping – not to have won a league game this season. Our top scorer so far, with an impressive two, is ‘own goals’, while the 8-0 home defeat to Newcastle United was the biggest in our 134-year history.

To be fair, some of the performances have not been as bad as the statistics suggest. The defeats to Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Manchester United were all close, and one or two of them could possibly have turned into draws given a little luck.

But when you are down and out, Lady Luck tends to turn her back on you; so much so, in fact, that eight or nine of our best players are now out with long-term injuries – including all our centre backs, the club captain – whose ankle exploded just for trying to cross the ball – and our main striker, who looks big, Scottish and scary but is apparently made out of a mixture of porcelain and marzipan.

It’s enough to make a grown football fan cry.

 

E-mail: James.Calvert@timesofmalta.com

Twitter: @Maltablade