Alan Brazil: The Qatar World Cup is now an even bigger joke

Scotland have spent more than 20 years failing to reach the World Cup Finals.

But wouldn’t it be typical if the one we finally qualify for is the one nobody really wants to be at?

Qatar 2022 should not be happening. It’s as simple as that.

Don’t get me wrong, if Scotland do get there, I’ll be 100% behind them.

But I’m also 100% against the tournament taking place in Qatar.

I’ve been saying that since the day it was awarded to them.

And the latest developments have done nothing to change my mind.

The dates for “The greatest show on earth” in 2022 were unveiled during the week, with the big kick-off on November 21, and the Final on December 18.

We knew a mid-season tournament was coming, thanks to the Middle East summer being too hot to play in.

But it’s still a colossal pain in the backside for our leagues.

The Premier League have already started trying to figure out a workable plan for fixtures during the tournament, while the SPFL Premiership will have to follow suit soon.

In Scotland, it might simply be a case of moving the winter shutdown forward.

But in England, it will be more difficult.

A five-week break in the middle of the season for the World Cup is far from ideal for the league, and far from ideal for players.

As it stands, we’re looking at a scenario where players bound for Qatar could find themselves playing their final league game nine days before the first tournament match.

Knowing their World Cup trip is coming, there are certain players who might think about taking it easy for a few league games beforehand.

They’ll be thinking: “I’ve got to save myself, here.”

That’s no good for clubs – and neither is the risk of players getting injured in Qatar ahead of the season kicking off again.

The whole thing is a mess.

And if the recent World Athletics Championships in Doha – Qatar’s capital city – were anything to go by, the locals aren’t exactly head-over-heels about sport.

The crowds were absolutely abysmal, and quite rightly drew criticism.

World athletics chief Sebastian Coe’s response was snide, suggesting having a swipe at the lack of an audience was easier than giving insightful comment on the athletics on show.

But Seb can be as snide as he likes – the pictures of empty stands told the story.

It’s not fair on people running for gold, silver and bronze medals with nobody there to support them.

It doesn’t matter how many people the games organisers gave tickets away to by the end of the event to try and make it look busier – the interest wasn’t there.

That belittled the event.

The World Cup is different in that people will travel. But whether they will travel in the same numbers as they have to other tournaments seems doubtful to me.

Having been denied a seat at football’s top table for so long, if Scotland get there, the Tartan Army will pull out all the stops to get to Qatar.

But there are still so many unanswered questions about what they’ll find when they get there.

Sunstroke seems to be the only certainty at this point!

For the first time ever, I’m not looking forward to a World Cup.

And given the chaos Qatar 2022 is set to spark for leagues around the world, I suspect plenty of people will be looking back in anger too.