The English Football Association’s Chairman Greg Clarke has described Qatar’s World Cup in 2022 as an “exciting” prospect, after signing a Valentine’s Day “memorandum of collaboration” with the Qatari FA in Doha.
Mr Clarke’s comments starkly contradict that of his predecessor Greg Dyke, who famously said that Qatar being awarded the World Cup was “the worst moment in FIFA’s history”.
Speaking in 2015, Mr Dyke said: “We will be living with the consequences for at least another seven years.
"If the Swiss criminal investigation demonstrates that there was corruption then there still has to be doubt about whether the World Cup will be in Qatar. I personally still don't think it is certain.
_______________
Read more:
Worker falsely blamed for colleague’s death in Qatar considers lawsuit
_______________
"If the investigations going on by the Swiss authorities and the FBI demonstrate there were financial irregularities then a lot of people will be pushing for the 2022 World Cup to be re-bid."
Twitter users were quick to point out the change in the English FA’s thinking in just three years.
Mr Dyke, a vocal critic of FIFA’s then president Sepp Blatter, resigned from his role at the English FA in January 2016 after his plans to reform the body were met with firm resistance.
His successor Mr Clarke has struck a different tone when it comes to the Qatar World Cup, even meeting with Qatar FA’s president Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani in London last year.
