FIFA have held secret talks which could see Qatar lose the 2022 World Cuphttps://t.co/pHRUVtdUw9— SPORT English (@Sport_EN) June 19, 2019
I want to see this just to see the shitstorm that comes from it. FIFA deserves nothing less being the bloated sack of crap that it is...
Does this means that China gets all FIFA tournaments (Club WC, etc) along with 2022 WC? Different time zone from Qatar, but AFC gets to keep its extra WC slot.
Hold 2022 in a place where an expanded 48 team tournament could be held (probably Europe but consider a Spain/Portugal/Morrocco tournament). That way FIFA gets an early expansion. Compensate AFC by ensuring 2030 is open only to AFC nations (or combinations of AFC nations). I still believe that 2022 will go ahead as planned in Qatar.
Keep it in Asia and have China or Australia take it. Maybe throw NZ a group stage group since OFC will never host one with an Aussie Cup.
Can China or Australia get everything (Stadium renovation, infrastructure, security, hotel and accommodations, Team training sites etc.) done in 3 years time? I think in cases like this the least possible risk is a place that can hold it in a moment's notice. England or Germany are probably the best candidates on such short notice.
Will CONMBEBOL go along with two UEFA World Cups in a row? The four consecutive UEFA championships has to be setting South American teeth on edge. I like the Aussie-Kiwi idea. Killing two birds with one stone, so to speak (okay, just one that's a bird). One would think the infrastructure is already there, but Almango or our other Aussie friends would know better than me.
I don't think CONMEBOL cares much. And having the matches start during Euro times would be much better for the TV Networks/Sponsors and fans than waking up at odd times in the middle of the night.
Just looking at the bid they originally submitted to FIFA there has to be major renovations to many of their proposed stadiums. Some of which are too small at current capacity to host. A couple stadiums not even created yet.
Also according to the Australia bid they said they needed 5 years to have all those Stadium renovations completed. Sounds too risky to me.
Rumors/speculation out of Panama (i.e. Facebook posts by their national TV channels w/o any sources) is that FIFA are considering bumping North America up to 2022. If that were to be seriously considered, it would mean significant pressure on Mexico and Canada to get their stadia ready (or simply go with 2 venues each instead of 3). As well, would this mean that fast-tracked WC expansion is back on?
Whatever they do they have to decide things quick because Qualifying schedules must be changed very soon. For South America it would mean starting this September if they decide to change it back to a Summer World Cup. If they keep it a Winter World Cup then that means the USA would be relegated to hosting matches in California (maybe up to 3 stadiums there), Arizona, maybe Vegas, Florida (3 stadiums there), Texas (A couple stadiums there), Atlanta. That is 11 stadiums to choose from with decent climates and/or domes off the top of my head.
But then again the NFL would conflict so Summer World Cup is the best bet. Or Europe as I said before.
Not really: only November 2021 would have to be vacated for the intercontinental playoffs, so Conmebol could simply start this November. The 9 FIFA windows: Nov 2019 Mar 2020 Sep 2020 Oct 2020 Nov 2020 Mar 2021 June 2021 Sep 2021 Oct 2021 With June 2020 set apart for the next Copa América. It would also save South American Feds the hassle of having to cancel friendlies that are already booked, or scheduling new ones for November.
Good point. But my general point of them having to decide soon still stands if CONMEBOL have to change the schedule to November of this year.
Another issue is that the existing venues all cater for other sports as well that use those stadia on a weekly basis in June/July. In Sydney the old football stadium near the CBD has just been demolished and may not be rebuilt in time. The Olympic stadium is planned to go offline for some major renovations next year and will be out of action for a couple of years, and the new stadium that replaced the Parramatta stadium looks good on TV but only has a capacity of 30,000. A new stadium opened this year in Perth. Plenty of capacity but its an oval stadium. Melbourne's two largest stadia are both oval, with the rectangular football stadium only having a 30,000 capacity. Adelaide Oval has undergone a major upgrade, but again its oval shaped. Brisbane has a good stadium. Newcastle has had renovations but the last stage to bring it up to FIFA standards hasn't started yet. Canberra has a tired older stadium and they are still discussing what to do about it. Geelong was mentioned in the bid but the stadium there is oval and I don't think any work has progressed on it. As you can see of the planned work in the bid some has progressed but generally at a slower pace without a 2022 deadline, and other items are still in planning stage or have been shelved.
Australia is out of it. England, Germany. USA are the only ones I can see being ready so soon and still have TV Networks happy with the Time Zones.
And most importantly, China has 9 stadiums ready to go: 50k+ seating, in use during 2019 Chinese Super League. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Chinese_Super_League#Stadiums_and_Locations 2022 WC can remain within AFC without sacrificing infrastructure requirements.
Portugal/Spain would be good to go as well on short notice. There are options, and it seems FIFA is leaning towards them.
I would say China is option 1 and Spain/Portugal is option 2. We visited China on the way to Russia 2018. Their infrastructure is amazing and they are still building like crazy. Bullet trains, lots of great hotels, and lots of sights to see. I would enjoy going back. It looks like they have enough stadiums already, but I bet they could build a couple more faster than any other country, if needed.
Remember, China are hosting the 2023 Asian Cup. As part of that commitment they are already working on stadium infrastructure. That said, I don't see Qatar losing the World Cup. FIFA doesn't want to deal with the waves of lawsuits that would follow (probably in multiple jurisdictions). Otherwise this would have happened years ago.
I don't see Qatar losing it either but if they were to take it away China would and should be the first option. They have the stadiums now unlike Australia would need to build. If not China than moving up the North American WC would be ideal. America could host the whole thing tomorrow if needed. After that and last resort would be another European WC. Most western European countries could also host with little notice.
Nielsen might think otherwise. Olympic Games at China 2008 hold the record on TV viewership worldwide. https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insig...ics-draw-largest-ever-global-tv-audience.html China goes 2 for 2: big sports infrastructure and huge TV market opportunity.