DOHA, QATAR – MARCH 18: Construction progress at Al Rayyan Stadium, one of the venues for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar on March 18, 2016 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

FIFA’s corruption scandal broke wide open the second that Qatar was picked as the host for the 2022 World Cup. Since then, the tiny Middle East nation has made all sorts of the wrong kind of headlines.

Afterall, Qatar has forced migrant workers into unlivable conditions. They also have told fans to literally pound sand when it comes to housing. Oh, and the good old debate about what time of year to actually play the tournament.

Let’s just say things haven’t gotten any better since Qatar bribed its way to a World Cup in the first place.

It should come as no surprise then that money is a headline of the 2022 World Cup once again.

This time it is a report out of the BBC that tells us Qatar is spending an average of $500 million per week on infrastructure projects ahead of the World Cup.

The BBC also reports that the Qatari organizing committee will eventually spend a whopping $200 billion to get the World Cup off the ground. If true, it would be the most expensive World Cup in the history of the tournament.

Just don’t tell that to Ali al-Emadi, the Qatari minister of finance. See, al-Emadi has denied the fact that it will be the most expensive World Cup in history.

Nevermind those pesky things called facts — because we all know the Qatari government doesn’t like them very much. I mean, it couldn’t even respond to inhuman treatment of workers, let alone its other corruption issues.

The facts regarding expenses for World Cup tournaments are these according to the BBC — the 2014 World Cup in Brazil cost $11 billion, while the estimates for the 2018 World Cup in Russia put the total at $10.7 billion.

I think we can all do the math here, but I’m pretty sure $200 billion is greater than $11 billion. So, why deny the truth?

Perhaps it is because the Qatari government refuses to want to admit things aren’t going exactly to plan.

Then again, should we really be surprised by the denial, deflection and outright corruption surrounding the 2022 World Cup at this point?

[BBC]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!