http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/qatar/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2013 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/no-level-playing-field-in-qatars-2002-world-cup-rort/ In hindsight maybe Australia’s tactics were all wrong. Instead of spending $46 million taxpayer dollars for the 2022 World Cup bid on marketing, advertising, sport-based aid projects in developing nations and flights and accommodation to persuade FIFA members of the merits of our bid, we should have just offered the money direct as bribes to the 24-member executive committee in return for their votes. The worst kept secret of the lobbying campaign for the 2018-2022 World Cups is now becoming apparent – that the successful Qatar bid for the 2022 tournament was deeply suspect, and that nations such as Australia were always destined to look like joke candidates through their refusal to grease the right palms. When Australia garnered a pathetic solitary vote for its 2022 bid, Football Federation of Australia chairman Frank Lowy effectively admitted that he had made the first mistake of politics – he believed the people who had told him they would vote for us, instead of just believing the people who said they wouldn’t vote for us. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/no-level-playing-field-in-qatars-2002-world-cup-rort/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/no-level-playing-field-in-qatars-2002-world-cup-rort/#item6016 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 M30o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr