By Andrew Warshaw
June 3 – As the FIFA corruption scandal continues to snowball, Qatar’s World Cup organisers, whose recent statements when facing criticism over staging the tournament have been relatively diplomatic, have clearly lost their patience with outspoken English FA boss Greg Dyke.
Dyke has been a persistent critic of the World Cup being hosted by the Gulf state and suggested organisers “would not sleep well tonight” following Sepp Blatter’s resignation.
“People are assuming that 2022 will still be in Qatar, but I am not sure that is certain any more,” said Dyke.
“You look at what the Swiss authorities are doing. These are the Swiss authorities, not some small prosecuting authority from a small country – this is the Swiss – they are looking at what level of corruption was there into the awarding of that World Cup. If they come out and say it was corrupt I don’t think we will see a Qatar World Cup.”
The idea of re-running the December 2010 ballot would encounter a legal minefield since 2022 was held at the same time as the 2018 tournament in Russia.
Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Thani, president of the Qatar Football Association, immediately took Dyke to task.
“Mr Dyke’s instinct to immediately focus on stripping Qatar of the World Cup speaks volumes on his views concerning what will be the first FIFA World Cup to take place in the Middle East,” he said in a statement.
“Having already co-operated fully with Mr Michael Garcia’s investigation – and been subsequently cleared of any wrong-doing – we welcome the Office of the Swiss Attorney General conducting its own work into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
“We would urge Mr Dyke to let the legal process take its course and concentrate on delivering his promise to build an England team capable of winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.”
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