Russia or China ever host WC?

[divo2317]

China probably will some day, however the Russians are cold when it comes to soccer, they only seem to care about making money. What are your thoughts on this folks?

[Toon³]

China probably will some day, however the Russians are cold when it comes to soccer, they only seem to care about making money. What are your thoughts on this folks?

A match ;) made in heaven with FIFA then.

[Shackleton]

China probably will some day, however the Russians are cold when it comes to soccer, they only seem to care about making money. What are your thoughts on this folks?

China already has, well, sorta--1991 Women's World Cup.

Seriously, China is a huge money maker for soccer and has aggressively been seeking to host international sports events over the last 15 or so years. I'd bet you money that they are the next Asian country to host the WC. May be 2022, however, before the opportunity arises.

I don't see Russia hosting a WC in my lifetime.

[AllWhitebeliever]

Well Russia is holding the U20 Women's World Cup Championship finals at least very soon this month.

Of course it will never be in the grand scale of the Men's World Cup finals. Who can tell. I think China will but Russia? There are so much internal security problems. Although it's not as though they can't hold but rather if others would be comfortable with "certain" arrangements that may not be above board. Whereas the chineses are looking to keep other countries happy in their economic growth and so are making some number of "protectism" a bit more flexible by getting some transparent transactions.

:cool:

Hang loose guys.

[nutbar]

A match ;) made in heaven with FIFA then.

Isn't that the truth.

[Asian_Terrier]

China probably will some day, however the Russians are cold when it comes to soccer, they only seem to care about making money. What are your thoughts on this folks?

Well, China already has hosted the World Cup before, the Women's 1991 tournament and will host again in 2007. But it's definitely possible for China to host the men's.

Unless the security situation improves significantly (Russia is still currently fighting the 2nd Chechen War), Russia could be a contender to host the World Cup.

[lost]

Sure Russia and China will host Wcs one day, just not in football.

[riverplate]

China will put on a successful show for the 2008 Summer Olympics and will almost definately get the World Cup the next time it's unofficially Asia's "turn," perhaps as early as 2018.

Only way it may not happen is if Australia goes for it hard, but even then China's got the muscle to land it. The thought of having a country of 1.3 billion people going futbol crazy will be too much for FIFA to resist.

[grapedog]

I'd sooner go to Russia than to South Africa or anywhere in South America...

[Excape Goat]

Russia will have a harder chance to win the right to host being a UEFA country. Many European countries will bid for it when UEFA's turn is up. England who failed for the 2006 bid will probably try again. On the other hand, the other big European counbtrie, namely Italy, Germany and France, have hosted it in the last few WC Finals held in Europe. Spain or even Portugal is the last remaining big European country. But then, we can also see a joint-bid liked they did with Japan-Korea and the European Championship.

[Shackleton]

Russia will have a harder chance to win the right to host being a UEFA country. Many European countries will bid for it when UEFA's turn is up. England who failed for the 2006 bid will probably try again. On the other hand, the other big European counbtrie, namely Italy, Germany and France, have hosted it in the last few WC Finals held in Europe. Spain or even Portugal is the last remaining big European country. But then, we can also see a joint-bid liked they did with Japan-Korea and the European Championship.

Spain hosted in 1982.

[Shackleton]

Russia will have a harder chance to win the right to host being a UEFA country. Many European countries will bid for it when UEFA's turn is up. England who failed for the 2006 bid will probably try again. On the other hand, the other big European counbtrie, namely Italy, Germany and France, have hosted it in the last few WC Finals held in Europe. Spain or even Portugal is the last remaining big European country. But then, we can also see a joint-bid liked they did with Japan-Korea and the European Championship.

Spain hosted in 1982. But, I do agree with your larger point that Russia will have to compete with other European countries whenever it is next UEFA's turn. Given the length of time it has been since some of these countries have hosted, possible bids by smaller countries, Russia's internal problems, and the increasing amount of time between European-hosted competitions, Russia seems a long shot.

[Benjuk]

2010 Africa - South Africa

2014 Americas - most likely Brazil

2018 Europe - England is the biggest European nation not to have hosted a finals in the last 40 years, most likely will bid against Spain, possibly Portugal, and maybe Holland. Would expect Russia to bid then.

2022 Asia - China looks like the best bet, but Australia will also be able to bid (as members of the Asian confederation), I also suspect that the Emirates will make a bid - with all the building they are doing I'm pretty sure they'll be able to knock up a dozen 50k stadia and they are already heavilly involved with FIFA and the WC Finals, etc.

[Power_of_foot]

I find Russia has more priority to host World Cup over China since Russia is basically stronger football nation and Russia has more football history in depth. World Cup is usually held in summer, so summer in Russia isn't that cold.
China is also very very cold country.
If you visit Beijing during winter it is freezing cold.
It is as cold as Russia. In China, if you go to December in Beijing it is -20 through -17 Celsius. Not much differnet from Russia.
World Cup will be held in summer so there will be no problem hosting for Russia.




China probably will some day, however the Russians are cold when it comes to soccer, they only seem to care about making money. What are your thoughts on this folks?

[Power_of_foot]

How about a match between Russia and China.
Those who win the game in football should host the WC.


A match ;) made in heaven with FIFA then.

[RichardL]

Unless the rules change, visas would be a huge problem for a Russian bid. Currently to get a visa you have to say exactly where you are staying every night and give proof with a faxed letter of confirmation from the hotel(s). Once beyond the first round, that would be impossible for the traveling fan.

The lack of tourism would also make hotel accommodation a problem.

There is also a serious lack of decent stadiums.

Saying that, an awful lot can happen in 10 - 20 years so you never know.

[Antonio81]

As far as Russia, the incident where 2 Japanese were murdered following Japan's World Cup win back in 02 left a bad taste in FIFA's mouth, and almost certainly killed their Euro Championship bid.

Russia is also an enormous country to have to travel around, and unlike USA '94 it won't be worth it as they are unlikely to average 60,000 fans per game. I can see England getting it over any other European country next time their turn comes around, only the hooligan problem killed their bids 1970s-present.

As far as China, FIFA won't be able to resist, regardless of how bad their team is(refs always come in handy when the host is in trouble). 1 billion people, a huge market, the fact they've already hosted the women's version and will host the next Olympics, and the fact that 2 of the 4 Asian powers already held it (Saudi Arabia and Iran being very unlikely for obvious reasons.) They may have some competition from Australia though, seeing they're "Asians" now...

[hollistonrevsfan]

Check out worldstadiums.net, China is in as good position as anyone as far as stadiums, over a dozen large, relatively new stadiums, plus the incredible new Olympic Stadium they are building.

[RichardL]

Russia is also an enormous country to have to travel around, and unlike USA '94 it won't be worth it as they are unlikely to average 60,000 fans per game. I can see England getting it over any other European country next time their turn comes around, only the hooligan problem killed their bids 1970s-present....
Russia is huge, but most of it is empty. If there was a world cup there the games would almost certainly all take place in the west of the country.

I really don't get your point about larger crowds in the US making travelling around more worthwhile. No travelling fan would be put off by stadiums possibly not being full.


As for hooligan problems killing their bids, England's only made one bid since 66, and that was not likely to succeed against a much better German bid.

[Antonio81]

FIFA wanted a World Cup held in America at all costs, clearly for the $$$ packed NFL stadiums would bring, despite the fact much of the world was against it and didn't think they deserved it.