World Cup 2018 and 2022: Site Selection

[minionofmidas]

FIFA's Requirements for hosting World Cups (2010 edition)
a. be a dictatorship
b. suck at the game
c. total disregard for human rights
d. have tons of cash to pay Blatter and his cronies

Actually, Blatter is rumoured to have voted for England and the USA.

Blatter can't vote unless there is a tie.

IIRC he gets to vote twice in case of a tie.

Indeed.

Only in a last round draw, btw - note that Qatar got exactly half the vote twice in the early rounds. Blatter couldn't have ended it at these points by giving Qatar a second vote, even if he had wanted to (I've seen it claimed that he favored Russia and the US.)

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Zidane's video about accepting the Muslim world must have really worked.

He has been paid 1 million euros for...'helping people to accept the Muslim World'.

According to some papers it was 1 million for supporting it, and ten more millions if wins, which makes a total of 11 millions to 'help people accept the Muslim World'.

Also not sure he's famous abroad, but amongst his official supporters who officially defended it, Qatari candidacy had...Yann Arthus Bertrand. The guy is a famous for preaching for ecology and better economical development, supporting a country that takes all its wealth from oil and natural gas, and wouldn't fear to economically exploit human beings, is kinda, weird, then. But well, Qatar gave money for his 'worldwide movie' Home...

Ahlala...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRUR94yMjew

Anyhow wouldn't the whole Arabic peninsula be controlled by an hostile Islamist regime by 2022?

Ouch, I digress...

[minionofmidas]

Kicker Sportmagazin reader poll:
Do you approve of the selection of Russia as host for 2018? 49.5% Yes, 50.5% No
Do you approve of the selection of Qatar as host for 2022? 10.5% Yes, 89.5% No.
Which *I think* is the most lopsided result I've ever seen in one of their weekly polls. It's entirely unscientific but not *that* kind of crappy.

[Keystone Phil]

Russia shouldn't get that much support from the fans. We'll see how Poland and Ukraine perform in two years. If it's a joke tournament, support for Russia 2018 ought to plummet (not that it matters much anyway).

[minionofmidas]

Oh, bet your ass that Russia would have gotten lower support if they'd asked the question before the vote.

[Keystone Phil]

Oh, bet your ass that Russia would have gotten lower support if they'd asked the question before the vote.

Why did support rise then? People wanting to see how 2012 goes?

[minionofmidas]

It's just a feature of polls. You ask people about some recent fait accompli that they hadn't formed a definite opinion of before it happend, and that's not a polarized issue, you get a somewhat exaggerated approval. Heck, it even happens (to a lesser degree) on issues that are polarized. Presidential approvals, say.

[Keystone Phil]

World Cup 2022 is turning into an indisputable joke tournament - Platini open to moving World Cup to January to avoid extreme heat and FIFA has said that games can be played in some of Qatar's neighboring countries - http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5905460/uefa-michel-platini-ok-2022-winter-cup-qatar and http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5903143/qatar-neighbors-host-games-2022-world-cup

[Landslide Lyndon]

World Cup 2022 is turning into an indisputable joke tournament - Platini open to moving World Cup to January to avoid extreme heat and FIFA has said that games can be played in some of Qatar's neighboring countries - http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5905460/uefa-michel-platini-ok-2022-winter-cup-qatar and http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5903143/qatar-neighbors-host-games-2022-world-cup

Moving the World Cup to January might be the best idea in years.

[Platypus]

FIFA: French Idiots F**king Around

[minionofmidas]

It is rumoured that England lost a number of votes over the Panorama report.
Probably ought to be failed under "sad but true"...

[Keystone Phil]

It is rumoured that England lost a number of votes over the Panorama report.

I'm also hearing reports that Soccer balls are round; the 2010 World Cup referees were incompetent. Nothing confirmed yet though.

[minionofmidas]

I'm also hearing reports that Soccer balls are round.

Strictly speaking incorrect.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

It is rumoured that England lost a number of votes over the Panorama report.

I'm also hearing reports that Soccer balls are round; the 2010 World Cup referees were incompetent. Nothing confirmed yet though.

What the hell is this sport?

FIFA: French Idiots F**king Around

Let's stop to make UEFA the center of the football world.

Oh, and January? Well, let's share what it is to live a World Cup in summer with the Southern Hemisphere. Selfish 'North-Westerners' .

[Keystone Phil]

It is rumoured that England lost a number of votes over the Panorama report.

I'm also hearing reports that Soccer balls are round; the 2010 World Cup referees were incompetent. Nothing confirmed yet though.

What the hell is this sport?

[Keystone Phil]

Full blown comedy routine - http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/12/14/football.fifa.blatter.amaechi.gay.qatar/index.html?hpt=T2

[dead0man]

FIFA=FAIL for picking such a culturally backward spot in the first place.  What's next?  Russia?

(yes, I know)

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Full blown comedy routine - http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/12/14/football.fifa.blatter.amaechi.gay.qatar/index.html?hpt=T2

Well, yeah, a World Cup there would at least be good for that, 'mix of cultures'.

[Keystone Phil]

Chances Qatar loses its hosting rights after the latest scandal?

[minionofmidas]

Only a serious option if a) the whole shebang explodes in Blatter's (and Blazer's and Teixeira's and Valcke's) face b) that's the only way they can save their skins.

[afleitch]

Only a serious option if a) the whole shebang explodes in Blatter's (and Blazer's and Teixeira's and Valcke's) face b) that's the only way they can save their skins.

I agree. That bid was clearly bought; it's one of the most inhospitable places to play football...but goodness they have money.

[Landslide Lyndon]

One can only hope.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Please, please, let this be the thing that saves us from the horror that a World Cup in Qatar would be. 

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Why, by the way, was the 2022 site selected more than a decade in advance to begin with?

[Keystone Phil]

Why, by the way, was the 2022 site selected more than a decade in advance to begin with?

I think this was the first time they selected multiple tournaments at one meeting. I guess their reason was to save time.