The backlash against FIFA for its decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar has been well documented, but world soccer's governing body soldiers on as if it did nothing wrong. However, public sentiment is growing that the decision was nothing but a farce, and a steady stream of investigative reports is lending credence to that shifting tide of opinion. Whether or not FIFA owns up to its mistake is still to be determined.
Reports, like this one from Emmy Award winning journalist Jeremy Schaap, which aired recently on ESPN's E:60, should help increase the pressure on Qatar to change its labor policies and FIFA to admit its culpability. In fact, according to a recap at ThinkProgress.org, that is now happening. Statements of intent are a good first step, but the results of those intended actions by both Qatar and FIFA on this matter will be more telling.
Update: The video is temporarily unavailable. In a follow-up tweet from Schaap, he suggests looking for a replay on ESPN in the meantime.
Apologies to all who want to watch Qatar video. Can't be posted for 3 weeks on our website. Re-airing soon, on e60 and OTL.
— Jeremy Schaap (@JeremySchaap) May 14, 2014