By Andrew Warshaw
April 1 – In an unexpected twist to the debate over the 2022 World Cup, Japan has declared it would be ready to stage the tournament if FIFA strips Qatar of hosting rights – even though there is no indication that is likely to happen.
Nevertheless, Japan Football Association (JFA) president Kuniya Daini, whose country was one of those trounced in the race to stage 2022, said they would step in if required.
Japan co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with Asian neighbours South Korea and Daini said: “If FIFA look for an alternative country, we already have the stadiums that would meet the criteria to host. We have the Olympics in 2020. If there is a chance, we’d like to do it, although I don’t know how likely that would be.”
Whilst Qatar has come under fire for its treatment of foreign construction workers, the likelihood of the Gulf state losing hosting rights is remote. An investigation by FIFA’s chief ethics committee prosecutor, former US district attorney Michael Garcia, into the much-criticised bidding process for 2018 and 2022 World Cups, is on-going but has yet to report any findings.
New claims of corruption surrounding payments to individuals supposedly linked to the ballot for 2022 have not been proven as linked to the bid.
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