World Cup bidding process is a sham

So FIFA gave the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.

Let's ignore Russia for the moment.

Qatar? Never qualified for the World Cup; 113th in FIFA's own ranking; population 1.7 million; average temperature in July: up to 46 degrees C.

This is crazy! What has Qatar got to do with football? They might as well hold the Ashes in Finland.

Back to Russia: Qualified for 9 World Cups as either Soviet Union or Russia; 13th in the rankings; population 141 million.

Neither the Russian bid nor the Qatari bid was considered the best, yet they both won. Both of them were considered riskier than most of the other bids, yet they won.

The World Cup hosting bidding process is a sham (and I don't necessarily mean corrupt). It is obvious that minds were made up months or years ago. It is obvious that FIFA want to push the boundaries of football beyond their paymasters (Western Europe) to reach the four corners of their flat world.

OK, that's fine, but don't pretend otherwise. Don't pretend that there is any merit in the bidding process. Just say: if you've got loads of money (from oil would be handy) to build big stadiums and you've not held the World Cup before, then send us your bid; but if you're a tired old footballing nation, don't bother.

Let's have some honesty and transparency, FIFA.