World Cup in 2034 - Saudi Arabia bound.

 World Cup in 2034- Saudi Arabia bound. 

It was a case of history repeating itself which has often happened quite frequently throughout the years. We thought we'd seen it all at the last football World Cup in Qatar. There were powerfully aired concerns over human rights laws being violated, the widespread ban on alcohol, contempt expressed for the global gay community and, of course, the endemic corruption running rampant throughout that part of the world. 

These were disturbing developments at the time and yesterday FIFA seemed to put their foot in it again. The World Cup in 2034 will be held in Saudi Arabia which could have horrendous ramifications for the immediate future of the world game. Two years ago, most of Britain had to get used to the first World Cup to be held during a European winter and that required a major readjustment to the body clock. The World Cup was always held at the end of a long, gruelling season in Britain and most of us were somehow conditioned to looking forward to a summer festival of international football. 

But now there were early morning kick offs, stadiums only half full at times and a radical shift in attitudes and work schedules. In the end Argentina emerged triumphant as World Cup winners over France in one of the most classically enthralling and pulsating World Cup Finals in recent history. The gallant comeback from France, when all seemed lost, was quite the most stunning back story to the Final itself. But Argentina deservedly won the World Cup because Lionel Messi finally rediscovered his love of the big occasion and, despite the advancing years, ultimately lifted the most coveted trophy in the world. 

Yesterday though, FIFA once again came to the conclusion that the Middle East, with its endless supplies of oil, shed loads of money and affluence, were the perfect hosts for yet another World Cup. For those of us who can only dream about a Jules Rimet trophy returning to England and Wembley Stadium, this was another huge blow. Now we sit at home during another England winter and bite our lips in exasperation. That's it! There may never be another iconic 1966 moment in our lives so there is a frustrating resignation to fate. 

If only the generation of the Swinging Sixties baby boomers had known then what they know now, they would have buried their heads in plaintive despair in the local pub, privately cursed under their breath and just cut themselves off from civilisation. They'd have thrown their darts in anger, quite literally shoved their ha'pennies and just refused to play any more games of dominoes. It hardly seems fair but, then, when did FIFA ever care for the welfare of the game in England? We were always overlooked at football summits and just ignored. 

In recent years, we've been to South Africa, USA, Japan and South Korea, Mexico, Russia, France and the footballing community looked in with a warm admiration at those aspirational countries who just wanted their nation to be exposed to the greatest football tournament in the world. But then two years ago, there were rumblings of interest and a fascination with the game on a much larger scale. FIFA stumbled on Qatar, a hitherto unknown nonentity in footballing conversations, who were chosen to hold the World Cup for the very first time.

At the time, the football aficionados were horrified and petrified. This was a complete departure from the norm, an insult to the game's gilded traditions. What possessed the collective minds of FIFA to pick a country so far removed from the game's traditional platforms that they may just as well have been some remote island in the Pacific? So we gathered our thoughts, questioned the conventional wisdom  and gazed at FIFA's headquarters with a combination of contrasting emotions. 

Qatar wasn't a million miles away from vast expanses of desert, sand dunes  and tribes of Bedouins still observing the same customs as they must have done thousands of years ago, covered in white robes. Qatar was probably the first country you thought of when the subject of roaming, wandering camels came up at dinner tables. Qatar, even during the winter, would be hot, stiflingly hot but gloriously appropriate for an exotic football tournament, even a beautiful setting. 

The World Cup of Qatar in 2022 did pass off without any earth shattering incident. In fact it was a moderately successful World Cup groaning under the weight of football of the highest quality. France were unlucky to lose out in the Final to Argentina, the Germans were all thoroughness, Teutonic efficiency and always well prepared, Spain and Italy were off the cuff and instinctive with their crisp, destructive passing, the African nations were naturally entertaining without being threatening and the European nations just performed with both discipline and daring.

And so we have now been told that the Middle East have been summoned to football's most controversial discussion tables. Once again we look at Saudi Arabia and are engulfed with the same doubts, reservations and qualms of conscience. Will the Saudis just use the World Cup as some convenient opportunity to show off their inevitable wealth and gold embossed ostentation? Will this World Cup be played in the richest of football playgrounds surrounded by vast hotels in the sea, tall and solemn, religious minarets soaring into the air and sheikhs with wallets the size of the world.

Football will of course, survive what some might regard as a huge error of misjudgement, the kind of reckless decision making that only FIFA could make. Or maybe not. The thought of engaging with a World Cup at the most important festive period of them all, can only serve to increase our cynicism. We now know the experiment did work but even so, it all seems like the wrong time and the wrong place, some incongruously scheduled event that just doesn't seem right and proper. 

Still we'll all gather together in our pub bars and clubs, watching the unfolding drama and trying hard to understand the morality of a World Cup being hosted by a country whose dubious claims to footballing legitimacy hover over football like a dark cloud. According to those in the know, this could be an accident waiting to happen, the biggest mistake and there have to be immediate investigations. For England, 1966 almost feels like some medieval occurrence. But it's Saudi Arabia 2034 and this could be the time when football has to brace itself for a sharp intake of breath.