Way OT: Hope for World Cup 2022 in US
Apparently the shadiness of Qatar getting the 2022 World Cup bid hasn’t gone unnoticed, and someone from their bid team is about to confess with evidence of bribing. The US always seems to be the readymade back-up for the last few World Cups with our facilities and infrastructure, and this would be awesome if we could get it.
While I don't watch soccer often (or kickball, as it is referred to during the real football season) I do love the atmosphere of the world cup. There is something special about cheering on your country, akin to in the olympics. I imagine winning it would feel a little like the Miracle game in the Olympics (hockey).
But keep your vuvuzelas away from it, please.
Why did they award the 2022 WC so far in advance in the first place? SOP seems to be to award these events 6-7 years in advance.
I'm not sure of the exact reasons, but I would assume a lot of it has to do with fairness to countries that don't already have the facilities to host, and the huge time frame gives them time to plan and build to fifa specifications.
The FIFA president decided to pool the two bids together so that they could be awarded at the same time, and so that he could extract good will from certain soccer federations (like, say, Qatar) in exchange for their votes in next month's FIFA Presidential elections.
Sepp Blatter is a corrupt fraud. This is but more proof of that fact.
Even if it's clear that bribery led to Qatar getting the World Cup, I don't see FIFA moving the event elsewhere. FIFA is a terrible organization and they're going to do what they want regardless of what other people think.
Even when the bribery scandal surrounding the Utah Olympic games came out they didn't take it away from the Park City. They'll probably keep it and just kick out the involved parties.
I think FIFA and Blatter in particular are far too enamored of the possibilities inherent in a "We are the World" moment occuring during a world cup in the middle East. No other consideration is going to sway them no matter what comes out. This is especially because everyone's already sure the process was crooked and thus it's hard to manufacture any outrage or pressure.
Plus there is no way they would take it from a Middle Eastern country and then give it to the big bad ole' USA. To top it off, their Nobel Peace Prize winning hero Obama won't be president then, so they can't even play that angle. In short . . . it ain't gonna happen.
We won't be hosting it so we'll have to just settle for winning it.
Hoping the US can host the WC again. Was always odd how a hot country with little refuge from the heat won the cup over more moderate climates.
I agree with you, although I would caution against calling the United States a "moderate climate" in June/July. I distinctly recall hearing about how Ronald Koeman, a famous Dutch defender, lost over 5 kilograms of water weight in a match in the 1994 World Cup in Orlando.
We shouldn't have it in the dirty south. Orlando soccer in summer was a terrible idea.
The Nokia commercial that has your Avatar gets me every single time, especially since my cat looks just like Keyboard cat and I wish every time that I could make him do that.
*sigh*
I heard that the Silverdome was a blast furnace for players and fans, as well.
I totally agree that Blatter is a fraud. Not sure if anyone followed Grant Wahl's attempted candidacy for FIFA presidency, but from reading his columns you can see how evident it is that there are really just a few power brokers in the game who control everything. Declan Hill's The Fix is another good read exposing how prevalent gambling is in the game and how FIFA essentially turns a blind eye to it all.
Honestly, I hope that this opens up the 2018 bidding too, since there was a lot of brokering going around between the two bids (if you vote for me, I will vote for you). I really wanted England to win 2018, and they had by far the best bid for either World Cup.
The US is a great fallback plan for FIFA because the infrastructure is there, for the most part it's there, and we've seen the financial success of the World Cup from 1994 (highest attendance ever). Another big thing is that they were talking about moving the World Cup to the winter if it were in Qatar, which is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. It would interrupt most of the club seasons. I look forward to it if they do move it, but I hope they were out the logistical problems they had last time (I think there was a lot of dehydration for the teams that played in Florida).
Why wouldn't England be a good fallback? Is it just that they can't have it in Europe two times in a row? (They seem to make up new rules as they go, so I don't know if that really matters.) For sentimental reasons, I'd like to see them get it. They're the "motherland" of soccer and have had to wait longer than we have.
Europe had the 2006 World Cup. South Africa had in in 2010. Brazil in 2014. Consecutive World Cups in Europe isn't the issue - Sepp Blatter bribing voters in different soccer federations with giving them the World Cup in exchange for FIFA Presidential votes and the money he gets from those who want to host the event are the issue.
I have not heard the talk about a winter World Cup in Qatar, that's an odd idea. How would that work out with league schedules?
And a little future forward, but I wouldn't say it's WAY OT on this Blog. Soccer might be considered the 3rd sport on here.
No I'm pretty sure the 3rd sport around here is photoshop fun with Lloyd Brady. Haven't seen any lately. Make it happen guys!
EDIT: meant to respond to M-Wolverine's post. Fail.
For World Cup Lloyd Brady, this is it.
And for the record, I thought that was the 2nd sport.
I knew if Lord Triesman and the English FA were willing to be this obstinate with FIFA, they had to have something pretty freaking solid.
This will be lovely. Playing the world cup in 110 degree weather would suck. Never mind Qatar's other disadvantages.