(ATR) As FIFA Executive Committee members gather in Zurich, MLS commissioner Don Garber has weighed in on the debate about the decision to award the World Cup to Qatar, saying a shift in dates could be a "monumental disaster".
Speaking at the 2014 IMG World Congress of Sports, he acknowledged that a move to winter to avoid the searing Gulf state’s summer heat would disrupt Europe's domestic leagues.
"Their broadcast partners might have a problem with it going up against [NFL] football," Garber was quoted by Sports Business Journal. "It affects all of us for many, many years."
Garber, a key member of the USA’s World Cup bid team which lost out to Qatar in the controversial December 2010 vote, is still hopeful that the tournament could be moved from the gas-rich nation altogether.
"We certainly would be happy to host it here and have a lot of big stadiums that could turn it around and host on a very short notice," he said. "But we're going to be on the sidelines on this and hope that FIFA can resolve this in a way that's good for the sport."
That seems unlikely unless FIFA's top investigator Michael Garcia unearths evidence to confirm allegations of wrongdoing that are swirling around Qatar World Cup organisers.
The former US district attorney is about six months into his investigation into the 2018/2022 bidding process to examine allegations of wrongdoing and ethics breaches. He has been travelling to each of the nine nations to speak with bid leaders.
Garcia is also reported to be in Zurich today and Friday to interview the 12 members of FIFA’s executive committee still in office who took part in voting for the 2018 and 2022 competitions.
His New York office refused to confirm that he had travelled to Zurich.
A spokesperson declined to comment when asked how many of the nine bidding nations Garcia had visited and when his report was due for completion to send to the adjudicatory arm of FIFA’s ethics committee.
"As with any investigation, the ethics committee does not comment on ongoing proceedings," a statement said.
It seems the report will not be finished until at least the autumn.
Garcia’s talks with ExCo members at FIFA headquarters comes in the wake of fresh bribery allegations linked to the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar, involving former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam.
Earlier this week, Britain’s Daily Telegraph alleged that Warner was paid $1.2 million from a company controlled by Bin Hammam, who once headed the Asian Football Confederation, with hundreds of thousands more paid to his sons and an employee.
Garber commented that the latest bribery allegations piled pressure on FIFA and fuelled the case against Qatar 2022.
"That now is going to get a lot more legs. If more comes out, who knows what happens. It's very disappointing. It's an unpleasant aspect of the global football business," he was quoted by Sports Business Journal.
Qatar 2022 strenuously denied the corruption claims published by the Telegraph, saying earlier this week that its bid committee strictly adhered to FIFA's bidding rules.
Written byMark Bisson
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