Russia gets 2018 World Cup, Qatar gets 2022 World Cup

[Homer Bailey]

I know we've got some big soccer fans on here. This one is surely going to be controversial. Let's hear it!

[BuckeyeRed27]

I'm not too surprised about Russia, but Qatar? Pretty shocked by that one.

[reds1869]

Qatar is a horrible decision but vote buying is what it is. Until Blatter & Friends are taken out of power this what we can expect. Nothing like a World Cup played in 120 degree heat! As the US delegation said "you can air condition a stadium, but you can't air condition an entire country." By the way, Qatar signed a lovely defense pact with Iran this spring; could see some serious boycotting taking place in 2022 if the political situation remains tense.

[bucksfan2]

This is not a meant to be political at all.

President Obama has twice tried to help in landing a world stage event for the US. First was the Chicago Olympics now the World Cup. He is 0-2. Yikes!

[reds1869]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

This is not a meant to be political at all.

President Obama has twice tried to help in landing a world stage event for the US. First was the Chicago Olympics now the World Cup. He is 0-2. Yikes!

One of the rumblings this week was that FIFA felt the US did not receive sufficient government backing for our bid.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Originally Posted by reds1869

One of the rumblings this week was that FIFA felt the US did not receive sufficient government backing for our bid.

The US should have promised to build a stadium in Ely, Nevada. It looks like that would have pushed us over the edge. Oh well.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Obviously it's 12 years away and the scheduling probably won't be worked out for a while, but I was wondering if there had been any talk of more night games in Qatar. That would help with the heat issue and also put the games on at a more favorable time in both Europe and the US. I don't know if FIFA has a rule on how late games could kick off, but temperatures at 10PM would be much better than at noon.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by reds1869

One of the rumblings this week was that FIFA felt the US did not receive sufficient government backing for our bid.

A lot of that has to do with promising government money to cover for cost over runs and to make sure FIFA gets its money. For whatever reason, the United States wouldn't guarantee the money explicitly, but if the event were held here, there's no way it wouldn't provide all the profits FIFA needs and more. Consider the 1994 World Cup holds the record for not only per match attendance, but also for Total Tournament attendance. That's significant because it has held the record even as the next 4 tournaments had 12 more games than the 94 WC.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

A lot of that has to do with promising government money to cover for cost over runs and to make sure FIFA gets its money. For whatever reason, the United States wouldn't guarantee the money explicitly, but if the event were held here, there's no way it wouldn't provide all the profits FIFA needs and more. Consider the 1994 World Cup holds the record for not only per match attendance, but also for Total Tournament attendance. That's significant because it has held the record even as the next 4 tournaments had 12 more games than the 94 WC.

If FIFA were interested in a profitable World Cup, I think that England and the U.S. would have been the choices, as both countries already have a substantial amount of state-of-the-art facilities where games could be held, would probably be able to guarantee sell-outs for all games, and would bring in the most advertising dollars. However, I don't thing the FIFA executive council is interested in how much money the World Cup can make, but rather how much money they can make by deciding where to place the World Cup. There are already plenty of allegations about vote buying, influence trading and kickbacks flying around, especially in the English media. Maybe the media scrutiny on finances that FIFA would be sure to face in England and the US had something to do with things too.

[LoganBuck]

Anyone up for a road trip?

SAFETY AND SECURITY: Americans in Qatar should exercise a high level of security awareness. The Department of State remains concerned about the possibility of terrorist attacks against United States citizens and interests throughout the world. Americans should maintain a low profile, vary routes and times for all required travel, and treat mail and packages from unfamiliar sources with suspicion. In addition, American citizens are urged to avoid contact with any suspicious, unfamiliar objects, and to report the presence of the objects to local authorities. Vehicles should not be left unattended, if at all possible, and should be kept locked at all times. U.S. Government personnel overseas have been advised to take the same precautions. In addition, U.S. Government facilities may temporarily close or suspend public services from time to time as necessary to review their security posture and ensure its adequacy.

More fun
http://qatar.usembassy.gov/warden_in...-reminder.html

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

A lot of that has to do with promising government money to cover for cost over runs and to make sure FIFA gets its money. For whatever reason, the United States wouldn't guarantee the money explicitly, but if the event were held here, there's no way it wouldn't provide all the profits FIFA needs and more. Consider the 1994 World Cup holds the record for not only per match attendance, but also for Total Tournament attendance. That's significant because it has held the record even as the next 4 tournaments had 12 more games than the 94 WC.

Could the 94 World Cup hold the attendance record because the stadiums. According to Wiki the smallest stadium in 94 was RFK around 53000 while the largest was the Rose Bowl at 91000. To compare look at Germany which did have some larger venues (Berlin checking in at 74000) but the majority of stadiums were under RFK's capacity.

To be honest it would make much more sense to hold the cup in a developed nation. It may seem biased and unfair but if you put the cup in America, France, England, Japan, Germany, etc. the infrastructure is already there and the stadiums for the most part are there as well.

[15fan]

2022 World Cup smack in the middle of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia.

What could possibly go wrong?

Edit: And the lack of fun to be had by fans & visitors will make the 2008 Beijing Olympics look like Mardi Gras.

[WMR]

The entire area will likely be glass at that point anyway the way things are going.

What a frigging stupid place to have the World Cup. Par for the course for FIFA.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeRed27

Obviously it's 12 years away and the scheduling probably won't be worked out for a while, but I was wondering if there had been any talk of more night games in Qatar. That would help with the heat issue and also put the games on at a more favorable time in both Europe and the US. I don't know if FIFA has a rule on how late games could kick off, but temperatures at 10PM would be much better than at noon.

It should be interesting to see if Qatar can pull it off. Seems like there's hope that they can keep large stadiums, larger than they have yet built, can be kept cool. And all that talk about "Carbon Neutral" facilities is a sham, considering Qatar has been one of the hugest per-capita producers of greenhouse gases in the World.

The FIFA World Cup is merely a tool to promote Qatar as a vacation destination to wealthy Middle Eastern, Asian, and European Businessmen. If you're Israeli, you'll be able to come, but only if Israel qualifies. And while they say they'll permit some alcohol sales, what about female fans? Are they going to be allowed to attend on their own without having to deal with harassment from the locals because of their attire or lack of a male relative chaperon? Or is Qatar just going to cordon off the World Cup revelers from the local population to avoid any unfortunate confrontations?

[WMR]

Originally Posted by 15fan

2022 World Cup smack in the middle of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia.

What could possibly go wrong?

Edit: And the lack of fun to be had by fans & visitors will make the 2008 Beijing Olympics look like Mardi Gras.

If they catch you kissing on the beach they'll throw your ass in prison.