I'll be the devil's advocate on this.
/r/soccer hates Platini because he voted for Qatar for the 2022 WC. We know he did because he said he did. For /r/soccer, it is a clear sign Platini is corrupt because why would you organize a football competition in a country where it's so hot in summertime. Another clear sign of corruption is the fact that Platini's son got a job working for the Qataris.
Corruption is rampant at FIFA as it is rampant in most countries where the rule of law is weak, which is the majority of countries on the planet. But let's forget about corruption for a second if you can.
We know FIFA has been giving the WC in a recent past to countries/continents/regions that had never hosted it: United States in 1994, South Korea and Japan in 2002 and South Africa in 2010 all hosted a WC for the first time.
The only two continents/subcontinents that never hosted are Australia and the Middle East and perhaps North Africa.
Australia received only 1 vote in the first round of FIFA voting. Japan 3 South Korea 4, the US 3 and Qatar 11. Qatar led the second round and won over the US the third round of voting.
Let's go back to the corruption part now. There is clear signs of corruption for the 2022 WC voting. It seems that it is also the case for the 2018 WC in Russia. We've heard rumors about the 2006 WC in Germany, the...1998 in France etc... It seems that it is simply the norm to grease the palm of FIFA executives as soon as they have to vote for anything.
Now let's go back to the 2022 WC issue: Yes it is very hot in Qatar in summertime. It is a problem. In the 1986 WC, temperatures reached 42 degrees celcius (107 Fahrenheit) in Guadalajara and players had to constantly hydrate themselves to sustain the extreme heat. The 1994 WC in the US saw temperatures reach 45 degrees (113) in Dallas and 43 in Orlando (with extreme humidity on top of it). The Australian Tennis open is a brutal assault on athletes, as is the US Open played in New York in full heat and humidity. I mean just walking the streets of NYC in July is unbearable.
So it seems it can be done. They do have professional football leagues in that part of the world after all. A few weeks ago THIS WC qualifying game was played in Doha. It looked hot but both the players and spectators seemed to be doing ok.
The Middle East is for sure brutally hot in early summertime. They are also crazy about football over there. By the way, which countries in the Middle East are modern and stable enough to host a World Cup? Egypt? Iraq? Lybia? Syria? Iran? It seems Qatar and UAE would be the only 2 that can do it. They also happen to be huge sponsors of football.
So, no Arab/Middle Eastern country has never hosted the WC, Qatar is a huge sponsor of football, it got the WC but it's a scandal because it's too hot and there was quite a lot of corruption in the process. Therefore Platini is a corrupt cunt?
Platini's worth is around $145 million. You're going to get his vote with a $10K watch? Also his son could not get a job. Despite being a lawyer, having worked for PSG before the Qatari take over, being the son of a football legend, triple Ballon d'or, the only triple capocannoniere of Serie A, ex French National team coach, ex lead organized of the 1998 WC and current president of UEFA, the poor Laurent Platini could not find a job and the Qataris gave him one to win his father's vote... Legit.
Platini as president of UEFA managed to keep the traditional big football clubs happy with his Champions League reforms (there was strong rumors of them seceding UEFA and creating their own competition some years ago), implemented FFP which some will say it's a step in the right direction, gave Euro 2020 to...13 different European countries which would have never been able each such a tournament by themselves, (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ireland, Macedonia,..Israel, Wales are good examples). Not too bad.
Platini is French. Qataris are arabs. Oh boy are they for sure going to take some shiiiiiiiiit on reddit.
