- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE withdrew ambassadors from Qatar in protest at country's support for destabilising factions
- The sermons of extreme Islamist cleric Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi are regularly broadcast on Qatari state television
- Al-Qaradawi is banned from entering the USA, UK and France
- The Doha-based International Centre for Sport Security's vice-president retweeted a campaign to raise funds for Syrian jihadists
See the whole opinion piece here from Mail Online.
Kicking Back Comments:
An interesting article with many points that if taken as factual, add up to FIFA essentially knowing they gave sold a World Cup to a state that sponsors terror.
Do I believe that FIFA is, or supports, terrorism.
No.
Why?
Very simply, its bad for business in the long run.
Now I certainly believe that Sepp has an axe to grind against the UK, and would do everything in his power to make sure another World Cup is never played there again. I have to believe he has similar bias toward other countries, or at least individuals, that do not support him outwardly.
That however is a far cry from supporting terrorism.
No workers rights are another story ... in Brazil where there have been several workers who have died building stadia, and Qatar where there have been multiples more ...
Sadly I think FIFA has made the calculation they can "PR" these incidents away with promises and strong statements like "no more."
To them I believe it is a calculation about how much FIFA can extract from countries, without looking "too bad" in the process.
Dying workers seems to pass muster ... but state sponsored terrorism is even too far for FIFA. They would be shunned from the world and left penniless (except for their billions in the bank). Which after all seems to be the primary reason for their existence ... to line their own pockets.
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