Milutinović and Milla named as ambassadors for Qatar 2022

By Andrew Warshaw

January 30 – Bora Milutinović, the only man to have coached five different teams at the World Cup, is the latest high-profile ambassador to join Qatar’s bid to stage the 2022 tournament.

The wily Serb began his managerial stint with Mexico at the 1986 finals before coaching Costa Rica, the United States, Nigeria and China.

He has also coached Al-Sadd in Qatar and was in charge of the Iraqi national team at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

“I am proud and honoured to be part of Qatar’s historic bid to bring the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time,” said Milutinovic.

“I strongly believe Qatar has the perfect combination to host fantastic finals in 2022.

“My time coaching in Qatar made me discover the passion and great ambitions of this country.”

Although many of their rival candidates are still undecided whether to bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, Qatar have made it clear since day one that they are only interested in the latter and recently stole a march on other contenders by controversially being given a contract for sole sponsorship of the African Football Confederation (AFC) Congress in Angola.

It is hoped the multi-lingual Milutinovic’s global stature will help Qatar beat off the likes of Australia and United States, especially if 2018 ends up coming to Europe.

“Because I have coached five different nations at World Cup finals and seen how each region of the world where I have worked has grown as a result of this wonderful football competition, I am fully confident that a World Cup in the Middle East will be a resounding success,” he said.

In addition to Milutinovic, the Qatar Bid Committee also announced African World Cup legend Roger Milla as another ambassador.

Milla played a starring role in Cameroon’s run to the 1990 World Cup quarterfinals, achieving worldwide fame for his corner flag celebratory dances.

“Having experienced the magic and passion of the World Cup finals on three occasions, I am delighted by the opportunity to help create something truly unique in the Middle East,” said Milla.

“With this year’s World Cup taking place in Africa for the first time ever, my continent is set to experience the fantastic football celebration and the growth in all areas of football and youth development that comes with it.

“I believe that in 2022 Qatar and the entire Middle East deserve the same opportunity to host the FIFA World Cup for the first time and show the world just how serious and passionate they are about the game.

“I will work with all my energy and passion to bring about this great goal.”

Milla (pictured) represented Cameroon at the World Cup finals in 1982, 1990 and 1994 and was included by Pelé in his list of 125 greatest living footballers.

His appointment was made by the chief executive of the Qatar 2022 Bid Committee, Hassan Abdulla Al Thawadi , who seized the opportunity to highlight Qatar’s case to assembled delegates at the CAF Congress while other World Cup 2018 and 2022 contenders were forced to arrange private meetings.

Al Thawadi stressed Qatar’s plans for a ”compact World Cup”, saving players and fans both time and money because of the small distances involved.

He also highlighted environmentally-friendly cooling technologies being developed to ensure the tournament can be held during the summer months, a clever ploy to overcome the problem of oppressive heat – one factor which could work against Qatar.

Another innovation, if Qatar is successful, will be an initiative to build modular stadia for the event which could then be deconstructed afterwards and transported to other countries who would otherwise not be able to afford that level of infrastructure.

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