In its first issue of 2014, Monocle dedicated a slice of the magazine to its Soft Power Survey, a run-down of countries and their ability to create and sustain influence in positive ways. For the first time in its four year history, Monocle accorded sport its own category in the metrics of the survey. Football took centre stage as perhaps the most pervasive and global of all sports.

With the current cloud of anti-Semitic allegations hovering over football, Fifa must be praying that Israel do not qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. For hard on the heels of the disturbing concerns over excessive heat, homophobia and mass deaths of migrant construction workers comes an incident at the recent Swimming World Cup in the capital Doha when the Qatari hosts refused to display the name “Israel” during TV broadcasts and removed Israeli flags from outside the venue.

This Thursday (23.01), after meeting with the FIFA President Joseph Blatter, at the organisation’s headquarters in Zurich (Switzerland), President Dilma Rousseff stated that Brazil is ready to stage the “World Cup of World Cups”. During the meeting, interventions against racism and discrimination were discussed, as well as actions aimed at promoting peace and female football.

FIFA boss Sepp Blatter condemned the European media for "attacking" the 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar on Tuesday, days after slamming European countries and companies over the controversial tournament. The veteran Swiss said the media had been unfair to Qatar as he made an impassioned defense of the event to delegates at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) awards in Kuala Lumpur.

Sepp Blatter has admitted he is open to the possibility of staging the 2022 World Cup in more than one Gulf nation after revealing several countries had offered to co-host the tournament with Qatar. With a formal decision still to be made over whether it will be staged in the winter, Blatter also indicated that his preference is to start it in November or December rather than January or February.

Sepp Blatter has admitted FIFA may have made a “mistake” in the initial proposal to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar during the summer but stressed that moving the tournament is the governing body’s prerogative. Blatter, the FIFA president, has said on several occasions that he wants his executive committee to move the tournament to the winter as temperatures can reach 50°C in Qatar in June and July. The matter will be discussed at a board meeting on October 3.

Blatter was speaking at the start of a two-day conference on sports, media and economy set up by German great Franz Beckenbauer in Austria. FIFA later verified the comments were accurate. The Confederations Cup, which was won by Brazil, angered citizens who are upset with the billions of dollars spent on the tournaments while they endure underfunded schools and hospitals. Protesters aired a wide spectrum of grievances, including the high cost of hosting the 2016 Rio Olympics.