US was 2nd lowest in votes in the first round as well. Nearly saw an early exit, as if that actually matters when you exit
What is considering something mean to you? Seems like the only way to consider something is to have won this bid. Again, I was all for the USA bid to go through, but deeming nations (Russia and Qatar) unqualified to host is something we shouldn't do. Let's make the World Cup in both those countries and let our performance speak for itself.
Why were Korea even in consideration 8 years after the WC there? As has been said in a previous post you dismissed, Qatar don't even met FIFA's own standards of having 9 host cities. They are unqualified by FIFA standards, not ours. I'm fine with Russia winning the bid, they at least had some merit, Qatar is practically indefensible even though you will carry on trying to.
I have seen both bids and, Qatar's was better.... I mean the lady at the end who asked, "when is the middle east going to get to host one" convinced me... If I was objective and had no TIE to the US, I would have voted for Qatar... It will give people a chance to change their views on the middle east and, could bring transformational change to how people in the world view Arabs etc etc... The US Bid was good but, it was too much about us and development of the sport in the US.... The middle East needs it more... look at the fact that the the only Middle eastern team that qualified for the world cup was (Algeria) which is technically a CAF team... In fact has any team from the Middle East(both CAF and AFC) ever made it to the round of 16? BINGO! Qatar's bid was not an Asian(AFC) bid but, a bid for the middle East and, they made that case well...
If they didn't meet requirements, they wouldn't have been in the bidding process to begin with (see Indonesia). The fact is, Fifa kept them in the process and no one made an issue until they won.
What could Qatar possibly have done to change FIFA's mind about that? Hmmm... While I admire your altruism, it was likely six-to-seven figure wire transfers to holding companies in the Caymans that convinced the FIFA voters.
Change people's view how? By showing them that Qatar is a conservative, racist society with a horrible human rights record. A place where getting arrested for kissing in public or speaking too loudly in a cafe is accepted.
I am tired of posters trying to justify Qatar's victory. When people talk about the US bid in '94, they always mention how the US did not have much of a soccer history. They are absolutely correct. However, they also fail to mention 3 reasons why the US was a good bid at the time. The US has a great sporting history. Very few countries love to compete. You name a sport and we will try to find a way to win. If you consider how low on the totem pole soccer is here in the states, it is pretty amazing we have done so well. The US also has a great history in hosting huge sporting events. We host without direct government involvment. That is quite an accomplishment. Finally, we are an immigrant nation. No matter what, people would have gone to the games. The reason why the region has some semblance of stability has a lot to do with our military patrolling the gulf. I bet you Qatar will rely on the US to provide a ton of security. Hell, we already do.
Again, I am not stating that there aren't negotiations under the table, but that is the risk with every committee decision. The point is, Qatar won and they have offered to give a grand event- let's wait to criticize them on winning the bid.
CAF & ACF: /non-sequitor For CAF, Morocco topped their group in Mexico (1986), Cameroon (1990), Nigeria ('94 and '98), Senegal and Turkey (2002) and Ghana (2006 & 2010). /end non-sequitor Middle East Results: Saudi Arabia made it to the round of 16 in 1994. As an aside, the US received the WC under the stipulation that the USSF form a professional soccer league. Also, if I am not mistaken FIFA was mulling over whether or not to pull the WC still until Caliguri scored the shot heard 'round the world.
I meant middle east in the context of the Arab league... That would make Morocco and Saudi Arabia the only countries... Turkey is not really a middle eastern country etc etc
Me me me me me me me me me do you think people care lol... This thinking was prob. part of the reason we lost lol... In our cultural context it sounds good when you say that but, it is not that convincing when compared to the revolution Qatar was promising with their bid both socio-culturally and technologically.... Our bid was obvious good but, when it came down to the last 2 I can see why Qatar won...
Forget about the issue of sweating your b***s off for the 12+ hours you aren't in your hotel, the local shopping mall, or the stadium (assuming the whiz-bang cooling technology actually works)...how's everybody feel about entrusting their safety and that of 50,000 of their fellow fans to stadium construction underpinned by a modular design? Just took out my daughters Lego set and can't count the number of times that Dora and Boots fell flat on their a***** with a little inadequate weight shift. Can't wait to see the human equivalent in action in 2022...
We will have to wait and see... the people voting obviously saw the vision and, trusted Qatar to deliver... I am sure they will do everything to not face international humiliation...
If the Aussies had gotten it, then MAYBE you could make a case for anti-Americanism. It went to a tiny nation with 150,000 citizens. They didn't reject the US. For whatever reason, they embraced Qatar.
Where did I say Anti-Americanism lol... stop reading into my statements... My intention w/ that post was to show that Qatar's bid would bring about more "transformational" change etc etc
Somewhere in this discussion there's a joke along the lines of 'FIFA World Cup selection process = MLS Playoffs' but I can't quite put my finger on it...
Sorry, I misunderstood your post. IMO I regard Turkey as a crossroads of culture. An amalgamation of Eurasia and the Middle East, so to speak. Geographically, they are closer to the middle east than Morocco, which is why I included them. While I agree with the US bid as being a "me me me " bid as opposed to Qatar as a rwgional bid, Qatar has some high goals before them. They have the cash to do it, no one is really disputing that, but do they have the: Manpower to build the infrastructure (hotels, roads, entertainment etc etc) Natural resources to build the infrastructure (Steel, oil, water, timber etc) Manpower and natural resources to sustain the infrastructure before, during and after the World Cup. Environmental impacts and degradation caused by the building. I am disappointed by the US not receiving the WC nod but curious to see how Qatar pulls it off. I am by no means an expert so I would like to ask anyone reading this who has been to Qatar or Persian Gulf to answer. I read and looked at some of the (awesome !!) stadium designs and there were mentions of swimming pools and a mall. Not to mention the state-of-the-art system to cool the stadium (I hope stadium designers take into effect 60-70K people generating their own body heat). Lots of energy consumption being banked on solar power and yet-to-be-tested environmentally friendly energy as touted by the presenter. I don't want to be a skeptical, but their presentation seemed to be a lot of pie in the sky ideas. You did mention the CAF and ACF, so I did the legwork to include both. I didn't want to throw away the research! Interesting factoid: Tunisia was the first African side to win a World Cup match, beating Mexico in 1978.
I hate to break this to you, but hosting a major sporting event in any region of the world is not going to change the perception of that region just because of that event. If that region really wants its image/perception to change, then they should work on the issues surrounding it. In the example of the Middle East, stop letting radicalists who hijacked your religion (repeating another religion's history, one they so hate) call the shots and sound like the vocal majority. In all fairness, there are some countries in that region that are working on improving their regions image by trying to be a voice of reason. A perfect example of the above is my perception of SA is still the same, nothing has changed that. Actions speak louder than empty promises or shallow attempts to stop/hide what goes on in ones country for a month and a half. As is, I don't really have a problem with Qatar getting the bid other than the fact it was obviously bribed. Add insult to injury when Qatar was accepting the "trophy" their official was doing hand motions like, "Come on cheer for us like you people did for Russia, we bought it fair and square". The way he was acting you would think he was up for an Oscar/Emmy.
A minor correction to the OP. The USSR hosted the Olympics (in 1980), when it was still ... uhm, USSR, a country that has murdered as many as 60 million own citizens in its 70+ years of existence. (Russia will host the Olympics in 2016) And, with the neo-Stalinist Brezhnev and Suslov clique getting the Olympics, the bar for "human rights" was set pretty low. Additionally, the USSR had hosted events of lesser importance - from chess to hockey to biathlon, etc. The Americans athletes have also competed in the so-called Goodwill Games (organized by that nutty pinko Ted Turner). In the first Goodwill Games, held by and large in Moscow and its vicinities, took place in 1996 when the Soviet troops were still fighting in Afghanistan. Additionally, the Soviets barred Israel (an old nemesis) and South Korea (after the Korean airliner downing by the Soviet airforce fighter) from participating. So, after you deem the USSR as an acceptable host, anything that Qatar may be accused of is sour grapes. A side point, a Qatari native unhappy with the emir regime, can leave his country at any time. Such was only a minute possibility in the old USSR, where dissidents were frequently thrown into psychiatric hospitals where they were tortured by the Soviet secret police. But, of course, many Americans didn't care or supported Ted Turner outright because they were as left leaning as Ted himself. And because the US withdrew its bid for 2018.