World Cup Decision Week!
It's decision week for FIFA, with the hosts of both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to be revealed on Thursday at 4pm CET (I believe that's 10am EST). Here are the current bidders: World Cup 2018:
Belgium and the Netherlands
England
Russia
Spain and Portugal
World Cup 2022:
Australia
Japan
Qatar
South Korea
U.S.A.
At this point, the bookies are backing Spain and Portugal for 2018 and Qatar for 2022. What's your thinking about England and the U.S.'s fortunes?
posted by The Blue Devil @ 11:21 AM
24 Comments:
Well, given the endless level of ineptitude and controversy with the English bid for 2018, I reckon their hopes are DOA. Maybe I have this wrong, but am I supposed to still be surprised when it turns out that corruption, collusion, and graft figure largely in what and whom is rewarded by FIFA?
Because I'm not. That a manky old kleptocrat like Jack Walker is still a player in FIFA affairs is a slightly surprising, but not when you factor that the organization largely lives to service the needs of ADIDAS and is headed up by the witless Sepp Blatter.
I just assume that the bid is going to be won by the bidder who is willing to pay the most to play. And by that calculation, Russia in 2018. 2022, I wouldn't bet against Qatar, but hope that American suitcases of non-sequential cash are enough for the USA to get it.
It's Decision Day and I'm taking the morning off to follow the FSC coverage. Good panel in the studio including Waldo and Cobi Jones.
It's not looking too good for the USA 2022 bid at present. It doesn't help that, unlike every other bidding country who sent along their head of state, the US sent along Bill Clinton. As popular as Bubba is around the world, this might be taken as a sign of a lack of seriousness on the part of the US bid by the FIFA suits.
Warren Barton on hand to comment on the England 2018 bid now. He's on the phone so perhaps Warren is on hand in Switzerland today.
We've just seen a clip of Landycakes' speech to FIFA - could have been more rousing, to be fair, but that could be said of Donovan in general.
The Guardian has its usual excellent live blog up:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/dec/01/world-cup-2018-2022-zurich
Last minute odds are England 8/11, Russia 13/5, Spainugal 5/1, Belgland 50/1
Unconfirmed rumors coming out of the hall in Zurich via Twitter that England are out in the first round. Bugger!
Like Prince, Sepp Blatter is keeping the punters, who include the newly engaged Prince William, waiting.
More unconfirmed reports leaking out of the hall. As reported on FSC, the whispers are that the FIFA suits have already been congratulating the Qatar delegation. So, apparently the fat envelopes have landed on the right desks.
Here come the parade of the suits then.
Dear oh dear, Sepp is dragging this one out with a lot of needless verbiage.
And here's the envelope.
The hosts of World Cup 2018 is....
Russia!
Bugger!
This doesn't look to be going well.
Roman Abramovic in the audience looking rather smug.
And the 2022 hosts are....
Qatar!
Double bugger!
So big money has won out. Waldo has it right - oil and natural gas interests have just bought the World Cup.
I'm off to work feeling a bit deflated.
Yeah, very demoralizing if not unexpected.
I listened to the 20 November edition of Alan Green's World Football from the BBC podcast and he had as a guest some American guy who is writing a book exposing corruption in FIFA. It's well worth a listen.
Anyway, bad luck for England and the USA. England were diabolically inept and the Panorama program on FIFA corruption could have been better timed. The USA had it fairly recently so that wouldn't have helped.
Russia 2018, eh? That'll be interesting. Russia will have to be among the favorites to win on home soil.
I'll definitely take a listen to that. My least favorite bit of this morning's nonsense festivities was Roman Abramovich looking like the cat who had just eaten the canary in the audience.
I was watching the BBC coverage from school. They announced, like Bob, that England were out of the running after the first round of voting.
Very very very upsetting.
They had an interview with someone who said that FIFA don't care about the places where football is the number one sport.
The developed football nations don't matter any more.
How can FIFA justify not having the World Cup at the birthplace of football for 56 years and counting??
Mexico has hosted it twice (both after England)
Germany has hosted it twice (both after England)
Italy have hosted it twice
France have hosetd it twice
I can see why the World Cup is going back to Brazil. That is deserved! QATAR???? How are they going to have a summer World Cup in a desert!
I guess I am glad that Russia won and not Spain. Again, they hosted it in 1982 (since England)
Sorry for my rant but I find it very upsetting, infuriating and down right wrong!
I just saw the voting for the two World Cups... I am even more ticked off!
2018 VOTING
1st round: England 2 (eliminated), Netherlands-Belgium 4; Spain-Portugal 7; Russia 9
2nd round: Netherlands-Belgium 2; Spain-Portugal 7; Russia 13 (Russia obtain absolute majority)
2022 VOTING
1st round: Australia 1 (eliminated); Japan 3; United States 3; South Korea 4; Qatar 11
2nd round: Japan 2 (eliminated); South Korea 5; United States 5; Qatar 10
3rd round: South Korea 5 (eliminated); United States 6; Qatar 11
4th round: United States 8; Qatar 14
Russia 2018 cities
Russia has said it will build 13 stadiums and revamp three more for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to be held in 13 cities: Moscow, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Krasnodar, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, St Petersburg, Samara, Saransk, Sochi, Volgograd, Yaroslavl and Yekaterinburg
"24 Hours in Yekaterinburg" - wasn't that a Ripping Yarns episode?
THERE"S BLOODY ELEVEN TIME ZONES IN THE COUNTRY!!
They used this as a plus in their presentation video!
Post a Comment
<< Home