Should England boycott Qatar and host her own tournament in 2022?

[Nottseagull]

I can't see many countries actually wanting to compete in Qatar.
We're talking about a country which is basically a desert, prone to sudden, violent dust storms and with no summer rainfall. Temperatures can reach 50 °C (122 °F) in July, so it would simply be a test of endurance; footballing skill would come a very poor second. The fact that it easily won the vote can only be due to one thing, so should the FA invite nations to compete for a rival tournament, maybe The Queen Elizabeth Trophy?
FIFA would not sanction this of course, but we could ignore them; then if they threatened to expel us we could say "fine" and form a new world body.
What say you, NSC?

 

[Gerbil]

Actually, i quite like that idea

 

[kingcole]

I vote for it too!

 

[Racek]

Will never happen. Can you see Brazil coming to play in our tournament and leaving FIFA?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Too many countries have too much to lose by going against FIFA. Look how many voted for Blatter in spite of all the allegations.

Federations in poor countries get lavish payouts every so often simply for toeing the party line, and they won't do anything to jeopardise that. Blatter would have to end up in prison before anyone at FIFA seriously considered replacing him, and even then it'd be a close vote.

 

[bhaexpress]

Do you think we'll qualify ? Actually I wonder what would happen if such an idea was punted about, can't see many teams being happy at playing there for the weather conditions for a start. There will be restrictions due to it being a Muslim state which won't go down with fans either.

 

[Icy Gull]

We could win a tournament with non of the teams who qualified for the World Cup in it

 

[xenophon]

Abandon international football completely, it's shite anyway, concentrate on club football and stick FIFA up Blatter's arse

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

We're world champions at taking our ball home, so why not?

 

[Southwick_Seagull]

We could win a tournament with non of the teams who qualified for the World Cup in it

Steady on.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Do you think we'll qualify ? Actually I wonder what would happen if such an idea was punted about, can't see many teams being happy at playing there for the weather conditions for a start. There will be restrictions due to it being a Muslim state which won't go down with fans either.

Nah, England fans will go wherever the team plays: you're talking about people who will fly to Kazakhstan or Moldova for a midweek qualifier, so I doubt having to spend a week without a pint in Qatar will bother them. Besides, several Arab countries, while forbidding the consumption of alcohol by Muslims, permit it in hotels for non-Muslim guests, so Qatar will probably be the same. Or relax their normal rules for the World Cup. Especially since FIFA's sponsors have in the past included Heineken and Budweiser...

 

[Billy the Fish]

I can't see many countries actually wanting to compete in Qatar.
We're talking about a country which is basically a desert, prone to sudden, violent dust storms and with no summer rainfall. Temperatures can reach 50 °C (122 °F) in July, so it would simply be a test of endurance; footballing skill would come a very poor second. The fact that it easily won the vote can only be due to one thing, so should the FA invite nations to compete for a rival tournament, maybe The Queen Elizabeth Trophy?
FIFA would not sanction this of course, but we could ignore them; then if they threatened to expel us we could say "fine" and form a new world body.
What say you, NSC?

I've heard a few of thes suggestions in the last week or so, and the big thing people are forgetting is that the rest of the world doesn't actually like us.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Nah, England fans will go wherever the team plays: you're talking about people who will fly to Kazakhstan or Moldova for a midweek qualifier, so I doubt having to spend a week without a pint in Qatar will bother them. Besides, several Arab countries, while forbidding the consumption of alcohol by Muslims, permit it in hotels for non-Muslim guests, so Qatar will probably be the same. Or relax their normal rules for the World Cup. Especially since FIFA's sponsors have in the past included Heineken and Budweiser...

Drinking will be allowed in hotels and in 'fanzones'. They have already confirmed this.

 

[TS90]

No. Now don't be stupid.

 

[Marshy]

We wont qualify with our current clown in charge.

 

[little al]

My father in law lives in Qatar, trust me I was pissed ever day of my fortnight out there in November, and plan to do the same this year. The alcohol laws will be further relaxed for the WC at stadiums. The problem will be hotel spaces.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

This made me chuckle from the readers' gallery page on the Guardian website. Captioned "England narrowly miss out again"

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

The easy option is not to qualify in the first place

 

[cheeseroll]

Indeed St. Pauli held such an alternative tournament a few years back, ill have to check the attendances to see how successful it was. If we could throw money at it then some countries may indeed really want to be involved!

 

[Easy 10]

I think we should qualify, but then register our protest at FIFA by totally STINKING the place out with our utterly pathetic performances on the pitch. That'd show them.



....oh.