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World Cup choice a Qatarstrophe, writes Sunday Times columnist Stan Lazaridis

Stan LazaridisNews Corp Australia


FOR the second time, the game I love drove a knife into my stomach this week.

I am absolutely shattered at Australia's failure to host the 2022 World Cup.

As I sat on the couch with my wife watching the announcement on Thursday night, my heart pounded quicker than it ever had.

The announcement was long and drawn out, which made it even worse. Then Qatar came out of the envelope and the pain was brutal.

Being selfish, what I'm most gutted about is the fact I won't be able to take my kids to a World Cup in their home country.

It now might be 30 or 40 years before we get another chance to host it, maybe more, and if I'm still here I just hope I can still see the ball.

While the pain is yet to fully sink in, I can compare the devastation at this result to the lowest point of my playing career, the infamous 2-2 draw with Iran at the MCG in 1997 which cost the Socceroos a place at the World Cup. It was one of my best games for Australia but I will never be able to bring myself to watch it on tape.

FIFA has made a huge mistake by sending the event to tiny Qatar. I can understand the logic if we missed out to the United States, and that result would have been much easier to take.

We shouldn't feel bitter towards Qatar for pulling off what is a magnificent achievement for them, but I can't imagine how the tournament there will feel like a World Cup.

They say they can air-condition the stadiums but you can't air-condition a whole country.

Qatar is not an enjoyable place to be at that time of year and it won't have the World Cup's special carnival atmosphere.

The country's serious bid presentation may have helped it over the line, with the focus on the World Cup's role helping to bring peace to the Middle East obviously striking a chord with the men who mattered.

I still don't think all of Australia fully understands how big this event is. It would have been an unbelievable boost to the game over the next 12 years.

The game in Australia desperately needed it. The A-League needed it and our kids needed it and it's a bitter pill to swallow.

The hardest part is that we were never in it, and receiving just one vote of a possible 22 and getting knocked out in the first round of voting was an insult.