Russia, Qatar reportedly will keep World Cup after FIFA 'investigation'

FIFA is set to release a summary of its "investigation" Thursday into how the bidding process that awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar were so corrupt that … well … it awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.

To the surprise of no one, nothing significant is expected to come of it, according to multiple reports in the British media. The 2018 and 2022 World Cups will still be held in Russia and Qatar, respectively.

Perhaps this "investigation" will help FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his global web of cronies to sleep well at night, able to rectify that they picked a country (Qatar) that is currently trying to fend off allegations that it allows funding to ISIS, has such a loathsome track record of human rights that homosexuality is illegal and, by its own government findings, is on pace for 5,000 poor, migrant workers to die constructing opulent stadiums and outrageous infrastructure.

Oh, and it gets into the 120s Fahrenheit in the summer there, which means the conditions aren't conducive to high-level play, or athlete safety, and the only solution appears to be moving the tourney to the winter months that would upset most of the world's major professional leagues.

Other than that, FIFA did a great job with the bidding process.

FIFA is perfectly predictable, of course, so the results of the investigation are of no surprise.

First off, the actual 430-page report won't even be released to the public, a synopsis will because if there is one thing you can trust, it is FIFA's word.

Further, the British media reports that while FIFA will acknowledge widespread problems with the bidding process – in an effort to spread the blame – the report isn't expected to single out many individuals, and certainly not any with current influence in the governing body.

You definitely don't want to start naming names who may have taken bribes, received private business contracts from bid countries or acted unethically because those people might get in real trouble with real authorities … you know, cops, spouses, taxes and all.

Better to keep that quiet.

Second, you certainly don't do more than say tsk, tsk to Russia and Qatar because if you pull their World Cup from them, they have nothing to lose and may starting to name names or even ask for the money back.

What, you think you can shame Vladamir Putin?

And the report includes, per the British media, wrongdoing by countries such as England, Australia and perhaps even the United States (we'll see) that didn't even win. Some handbags and other gifts were handed out to influential voters, which shouldn't have happened, but is really mostly a way to blame everyone for everything and attempt to take the focus off the bigger stuff.

Besides, the countries that actually complied with the investigators are the ones most likely to get dinged. Russia? The report will criticize Russia for not cooperating, according to the Guardian newspaper, after it claimed that all its pertinent emails were wiped clean, and thus, lost.

Seems plausible.

FIFA is hoping to claim it's all just a mess, so let's just enjoy the soccer. We won't do it again … at least until next time.

In the end none of this is would matter much for your average soccer fans that just want the World Cup staged somewhere every four years.

Except giving the World Cup to Qatar isn't the same as looking the other way while Putin slings cash around.

Qatar is the worst.

The Middle Eastern country of just 1.8 million citizens had trillions in petro dollars but neither the stadiums nor infrastructure in place to host a World Cup. As such, its bid called for a massive construction push to build all the gold-plated items that sporting aristocrats like Blatter demand.

That's led to a wave of migrant workers from third-world nations such as Nepal, Bangladesh and India to come to Qatar under the kafala labor system. There the worker has to take out a loan with a company that finds them a job and then the person is obligated to remain until it's repaid, with some small sums headed home. Passports are also taken, making the laborers de facto slaves.

Conditions are brutal and barbaric. The Qatar government admitted nearly 964 migrant worker deaths in 2012 and 2013 alone, either due to accidents or heavy work under extreme conditions. That puts World Cup construction on pace for some 5,000 deaths.

Qatar has promised labor reform but nothing as of yet, which means this remains about the world's poorest people dying so the world's richest people can stage an over-the-top soccer tournament in an effort to market itself as a modern land of luxury.

Sepp Blatter's FIFA was right there ready to do Qatar's bidding, handing over the games no matter how many workers die or how poor the level of actual soccer is under all that heat or how unwelcome some fans will be when visiting.

You didn't need an "investigation" to know that, however.