THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Love the World Cup, but not the crooks who run the sport

It’s been a blessing.

Over the years, I’ve had the good fortune to live and work in various parts of the world.

Even better, I’ve made lifelong friends — especially in Europe, but some in Asia and a few other odd spots across the globe.

So, not surprisingly …

Almost all of these far-flung pals currently are zeroed in on the World Cup, which kicks off in Qatar on Nov. 20.

You’ll have to excuse me here for referring to “the beautiful game” as football — not soccer, which essentially is only an American term.

Most of the people I know, no matter which national side they support, have the means and fairly easy ways to attend this World Cup.

You probably know it’s the most popular single event on the planet.

In other words, if you live in Holland or Britain or Spain, you’d normally have plans in the works for the best part of a month in Doha — which is not only the capital of Qatar, but comprises almost the entire nation.

The oil- and gas-rich Qataris have managed to build six massive stadiums from scratch and upgraded two more.

PERSONALLY, I confess to being a footy nut (you’ve probably seen mentions of my beloved Arsenal often enough), and I’d love to see the World Cup.

I’d planned to attend 2010 Cup in South Africa, but family matters intervened.

As for this particular year, I’ve actually spent time in Qatar — working for a magazine based in Doha and London — and I have the contacts to attend without TOO much of the grief which will overwhelm most visitors.

Quick point on the chaos we’re likely to see …

There are not anywhere near enough hotel rooms or other accommodations to house the several million fans who plan to jostle their way into this dinky little country.

Thousands will stay on cruise ships in Gulf of Arabia, and so far there are plans for 168 flights per day into Doha from nearby Dubai (which has enough hotel rooms to compete with Las Vegas).

To this point, however, I cannot find ANY of my friends who plan to attend the World Cup.

Geographically, that would be like me turning down a chance to see this football festival in Seattle or Portland.

HERE’S THE thing, though …

We all know that football at the highest global level is run by a cabal of crooks at FIFA — the Swiss-based organization that piles up money and answers to no one.

Even national and regional organizations are filled with greedy bosses who stash away cash, and routinely get away with it because we all want to see this game so much.

Somehow, though, even diehard supporters (not all, but plenty) felt that FIFA crossed the line 12 years ago when it accepted Qatar’s bribe and agreed to let the tiny nation host this World Cup.

Hell, at the time, it was still planned for the Cup’s traditional summer dates, when Qatar averages a comfy 120 degrees — with high humidity.

Everyone would have struggled to survive.

Now, leagues in countries everywhere have had to jump through hoops and play two-part seasons, before and after the World Cup.

It’s crazy.

ADDING to the uproar over this ill-planned circus, Qatar needed millions of “guest workers” from the world’s poorest countries to build those gleaming stadiums.

Oh, and Doha has completely reconfigured its infrastructure, with the once-sleepy Arab community now criss-crossed with new highways and a zooming metro train system.

The immigrants imported to create all these sparkling structures had to endure those summer temps in hut-like housing, and were stuck working 12 to 16 hours per day.

It’s no shock that many collapsed, and there have been plenty of deaths, although the government and outside watchdog agencies debate the numbers.

Meanwhile, under Qatar’s “kafala” system for foreign workers, each immigrant had to be sponsored by a local company — which holds the worker’s passport and basically decides on living conditions without any oversight.

I HAVE friends in Portugal, a couple who certainly would have gone to this World Cup if not for the FIFA corruption going too far — and nobody really paying attention to how so many beautiful buildings are springing up in the Middle East.

“We’ll watch it on TV,” they said, “but supporting this thing with our money just seems wrong.”

I agree.

But here’s the odd part: I’m most disgusted by FIFA and its line-the-pockets method of awarding major events.

The Qataris basically watched Russia win the 2018 World Cup with the largest bribe, and decided those were the rules.

They were right.

I also believe that Qatar’s World Cup committee, which clearly was undertaking a massive job, lost control of all the private companies that abused the workers and essentially denied them basic human rights.

The Qatari government — which more than anything wanted the World Cup to leave a legacy for future lifestyle upgrades — has since scrapped the “kafala” system, and tried to help workers with unpaid wages and the freedom to go home.

Qatar failed on due diligence, certainly, but the country is far less culpable than FIFA — which saw this nightmare coming and took the cash anyway.

Maybe I’ll go back and visit Doha after the World Cup has come and gone.

Like millions more football junkies, I’m hoping that the blinding spotlight that the Qatar World Cup has shined on FIFA might, well …

Putting some of the suits in prison would be a start.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”