It would be fair to say that 2015 shook the football world. Long-standing allegations of corruption in the football governing body FIFA finally led to arrests in May. Many of its top executives were questioned in investigations that are still ongoing. In response, Al Thuwaidi – the man responsible for leading the Qatar 2022 World Cup Bid Committee and now the coordination of the tournament itself – was defiant. In an interview in December, he continued to maintain that the country had been the victim of a campaign “without any shred of evidence” and described hosting the tournament as more necessary than ever considering the global political climate. Should Qatar reach 2022 with the tournament’s credibility intact, Al Thawadi, who is also general counsel at Qatar Investment Authority and Qatar Holding, will surely deserve much of the credit.