SYDNEY: Australia football boss Frank Lowy suggested on Monday that Qatar could yet be stripped of its right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup following their controversial awarding of the global showpiece.
Australia was humiliated to receive only one FIFA vote and was eliminated in the first round as Qatar went on to beat the US in the fourth round in Zurich last December.
The process of awarding Qatar the World Cup over the US and Australia, along with the handing of the 2018 tournament to Russia, has been widely criticised amid allegations of corruption within world football’s governing body. Lowy, 81, formally re-elected on Monday as Football Federation Australia chairman (FFA) for another four years, indicated that world governing body FIFA could succumb to pressure from around the world over their bidding process.
“I don’t know whether you recall when I came back from that fateful day (after losing the bid) and I said ‘this is not the last word about awarding the World Cup’,” Lowy told reporters.
“Well, it wasn’t the last word and the last word hasn’t been heard yet.
“Don’t ask me to elaborate because I don’t have a crystal ball … but the media all over the world is talking about that, the awarding particularly of ’22, the state of the FIFA executive committee – all that stuff.
“It’s not over. I don’t exactly know where it will bounce. The only thing I know is it’s not over yet.”
While anger lingers over Australia’s failed Aus$45 million ($43.7 million) bid, Lowy said FFA’s focus in the coming years would be on strengthening the game domestically and successfully hosting the 2015 Asian Cup. (Agencies)