It was twelve years ago, but Sepp Blatter remembers it like it was yesterday. On December 2, 2010, at the headquarters of the International Football Federation (FIFA), in Zurich (Switzerland), in front of a room full of football and political VIPs, the head of the institution opened the envelope containing the name of the winner of the 2022 World Cup award ballot. “I knew it was Qatar, and I made my head a littlerecalls the former Swiss leader, now 86 years old. In my conception of FIFA and the World Cup, the tournament should never have gone there. But it was done. »
In the assembly, the imposing Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, ruler of the Gulf monarchy, and his wife, the haughty Sheikha Moza Al-Misned, all dressed in purple, leap from their seats. The emir embraces his crying children. “Thank you for believing in change, thank you for giving Qatar a chance. I promise you, you will be proud of us”proclaims from the platform Mohammed Ben Hamad Al Thani, responsible for the candidacy of the emirate, alongside Blatter, his face tense.
This world-view ceremony confirms the meteoric rise of Qatar on the international scene. During the vote of the executive committee of FIFA, the micro-state won with fourteen votes against eight to its main competitor, the United States. “A bang”assure the supporters of the emirate. ” A hold up “retort his detractors, aware of the rumors of bribes that swell behind the scenes.
It’s the opening sequence of a big show series. The three strokes of an interminable tussle, mixing lobbying, espionage, intox and sabotage. In the leading roles of this blockbuster, whose budget amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars, there is an armada of diplomats and consultants: those of Qatar, determined at all costs to achieve “its” Cup, and those of its opponents from the Gulf, ready to do anything to prevent it.
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But in the credits of this shadowy war, as incredible as it is deleterious, we also find the barons of FIFA, the experts of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the magistrates of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office and a few scoop hunters of the international press. On the eve of the opening of the competition, which takes place from November 20 to December 18, here is the noir novel of the World Cup, the story of a tournament that could never have taken place.
For the Qataris, the troubles began even before December 2, 2010. The previous year, the Frenchman Jérôme Valcke, then Secretary General of FIFA, had come to suggest that they withdraw their candidacy in exchange for other competitions, of lower rank. . The request came from Sepp Blatter, who was not thrilled with the idea that his favorite tournament, showcase and FIFA golden egg hen, would be held in a country “as big as the canton of Zug” (Switzerland), and that it takes place, moreover, during the winter. An obvious risk, given the furnace that the emirate becomes during the summer.
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