Regan has questions to answer on Qatar

EVEN as high-ranking suspects were seeking shelter behind 1,000-thread count sheets whipped straight from the laundry of their luxury Zurich hotel, few struck a more ridiculous figure than Sepp Blatter last week. Certainly no one suggests that Stewart Regan could ever give the old scoundrel a run for his pile of money. Before this week is through, however, the SFA chief executive may well be made to look foolish. Because, if Blatter is considered by many to preside over a regime bordering on the criminal, our own man’s lack of self-awareness is veering towards the criminally naive. Regular readers will know what is coming next. Qatar at Easter Road on Friday night. The SFA should never have afforded the World Cup 2022 hosts even a modicum of respectability by inviting them to play a friendly. Any Scotland fans not boycotting should vent their fury, speaking up about our association with a wealthy country unable to buy themselves a reputation. And so to Regan (below), whose regular contributions made for heartening reading. His opposition to Blatter was stirring, with words like integrity and credibility featuring prominently in his damnations of the FIFA leadership. Well, excuse us for pointing out the obvious. For corruption to take place, there has to be both someone willing to take a gift, a sweetener or nakedly obvious bung — and someone willing to do the bunging. If you believe UEFA should consider boycotting future World Cups, a suggestion to fall from the lips of Regan himself, then the implication is that you believe at least some of the many allegations regarding the bidding process. If Regan suspects that neither Russia nor Qatar played within the rules when securing hosting rights for the World Cup, then, how can he justify inviting one of those nations to break bread with us in our own front room? Even ignoring the horrendous death toll of migrant workers, how could anyone think it’s a good idea to line up with a country at the heart of so many accusations? We believe Regan will use the opportunity to raise some concerns with his Qatari counterparts. If he is going to expose Scotland to ridicule by damning FIFA while welcoming a nation immersed in the scandal, that is the least he owes us.