Colin Sheridan: No courtship in this arranged marriage of a World Cup

As the Premier League wraps up, the Qatar tournament starts in less than a week amazingly.

A banner reads "boycott Qatar 2022" on the tribune during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday. Picture: AP Photo/Martin Meissner

Mon, 14 Nov, 2022 - 06:47

Colin Sheridan is a writer and columnist. A former officer in the Irish Defence Forces he has extensive deployment experience as a peacekeeper with the United Nations, having lived and worked in the former Yugoslavia, West Africa, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine.

The World Cup starts in six days — and, putting aside the abject moral dereliction of the entire conceit for a moment — there are other casualties, more existential in their guise, but no less fatal to the legacy of a tournament that was forever flawed in its makeup, but imperfectly beautiful nonetheless.

Six days! Fulham are only kicking off against Manchester United in the Premier League as I type. You couldn’t even drive from Craven Cottage to Qatar in less than a week, never mind prepare a team to win a tournament. The ridiculously quick turnaround must be migraine-inducing for managers and medical staff, but what of us, the fans and sportswriters, for whom the pre-tournament build up was often as enjoyable and entertaining as the football itself?