For instance, was the decision to host the 2030 event across six countries on three continents trumpeted as a tribute to the tournament's centenary actually a convenient excuse?
Fifa then opened the bidding process without warning, and while Saudi Arabia had a glossy document ready to go packed with dystopian visions of glowing extra-terrestrial arenas other interested parties had 25 days to get their act together.
Other hurdles were breezily overcome, including a Saudi FA-commissioned human rights assessment, labelled a whitewash of the reality of abuse and discrimination faced by Saudi Arabia's citizens and residents.
Even the most wide-eyed, naive football fans can trace the World Cup's awkward history as a propaganda tool back to 1934, a century before the Saudi jamboree.
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