NFR - No World Cup for Chicago

Probably wouldn't have gotten any good teams anyway.

 

Interesting that the Chicago Tribune article is basically just a rip off of the Sun Times article.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/emanuel-pulls-chicago-out-of-world-cup-bid/

Daniel Burnham's unofficial motto for Chicago:

Make no Little Plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized...

has been changed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to:

Make no Plans, lest they cost taxpayers money, have a bit of uncertainty and not directly benefit the donor class.
(on the other hand, if they DO benefit the donor class, then that is okay)

 

I guess Chicago isn’t going to win it.

 

I don't understand why hosting games would cost the city money. We have a beautiful lakefront stadium (that is guaranteed to sell out) right next to a ginormous convention center and loads and loads of hotels. We are one of the most diverse cities in the world. We have multiple universities with practice fields to be training bases. Wouldn't hosting a game here make everyone involved oodles of cash? What am I missing?

 

the FIFA required bribes and kickbacks?

 

One would imagine those champagne-and-Davos globalist elites would have loved to have the World Cup in town, right?

 

Yeah, this coming at the 11th hour after the Morocco ransom note was made public speaks volumes.

Probably a good sign for USA 2026 generally, if you're looking for a silver lining.

 

Tell me more?

 

Exclusive: FIFA Demands 2026 World Cup Bidders Guarantee a Tax Holiday, Copyright Protection and Exemption from Labor Laws

 

The press leak that Morocco was leading the bidding was not subtle.

*Extremely Tom Cruise voice* SHOW ME THE MONAAAAAAY

 

Essentially, for the last go around, FIFA/Organizing committing were requiring the City to pony up about $10,000,000 in advance of the bid.
I suspect that it was something like that again.

“FIFA could not provide a basic level of certainty on some major unknowns that put our city and taxpayers at risk,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

“The uncertainty for taxpayers, coupled with FIFA’s inflexibility and unwillingness to negotiate, were clear indications that further pursuit of the bid wasn’t in Chicago’s best interests.”

Essentially, "We don't want to pony up the money. FIFA won't let us NOT pony up the money. So, screw all of the soccer fans who might want to come to Chicago."

Also, Soldier Field was the SMALLEST stadium being considered last time around, and was being dropped from consideration.

And this!

 

I'm of two minds about that. On the one hand it is ludicrous that the largest market in the NFL (when you consider NY and LA split in half) has the smallest (permanent) stadium. It just insulates the Bears from any ticket demand issues no matter how poorly the McCaskeys run the team, and makes the ticket prices astronomical.

On the other hand, SF is a wonderful soccer venue, not a bad seat in the house, and it would be a shame to have a US World Cup not feature it as a venue and Chicago as a city.

FIFA is going to find a way to kill its golden goose, which is quite miraculous really.

 

This was what I was thinking. Multi-million dollar upgrades, fcuking up traffic and security (adding more $$$ to the cost) so that FIFA bozos get limo'd from the airport via empty roads, etc., for what? A couple of group stage matches? Maybe a round of 16?

Remember, Chi didn't get beyond that in '94, when the city stood out as a far more "sure bet" among a limited pool of cities than now. Putting a WC match in Nashville in '94? Dodgy. Today, likely a no-brainer sellout (although a Saudi Arabia v Russia might still not draw)..

 

Vancouver backed out too. LA is up in the air.

 

Now a host of cities are dropping out

974317185563856896 is not a valid tweet id

 

FIFA sucks

 

Some examples follow:
https://www1.villanova.edu/villanov...ary/mslj_blog/journal_archives/2014/0728.html

 

I nominate FIFA for Moderator!

 

They are responsible for the EPL.

 

I am glad they passed just look at the demands.

theBreaker has obtained a copy of FIFA’s requirements for governments bidding for 2026. The Swiss-based organization, still reeling from the FBI’s 2015 crackdown on FIFA’s massive bribery and kickbacks, requires host governments agree to grant it huge tax breaks for an entire decade and allow it to import and export unlimited amounts of foreign currency. FIFA also requires host taxpayers pick up the full bill for safety and security and assume liability should there be any security incident of any size…

For its workforce, FIFA wants a visa-free environment where work permits are issued “unconditionally and without any restriction or discrimination of any kind.”

“It is also requested to grant exemptions from labour law and other legislation for companies and personnel directly involved with the competition, provided that these exemptions do not undermine or compromise the government’s commitment to respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights.”

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2018/...-than-grant-fifa-a-decade-long-tax-exemption/

 

in other words, FIFA's reaction to getting caught on the grift is to baldly state the grift in the contract terms and pretend that makes it okay.

are there any hurling clubs around Chicago? maybe I'll just give up on soccer.