So let me bite: 1) Racist abuse of Czech, Kosovo and England players in Bulgaria; 2) Hooliganism in Greek football; 3) People linked to Red Star and Partizan supporter groups arrested for organised crime offences in Serbia; 4) Zlatan Ibrahimovic subjected to anti-Muslim abuse when playing away at Red Star Belgrade; 5) On a similar note, while not directly football related, Red Star basketball fans protesting with an anti-Muslim banner and by boycotting matches because their club signed a Slovenian player of Muslim extraction. That numerous fans of such a prominent Serbian sports club reacted this way is perhaps indicative of a wider issue in Serbian society. Not very "Say no to racism", is it? 6) Romania I don't have an issue with, other than compared to some of the other potential host countries it's hardly a very exotic or exciting option. Are these good enough reasons for you?
Ultimately there will be one UEFA supported bid. Reports here suggest the UK/Irish bid is not favoured by UEFA. It sounds like Euro2028 is the compromise. I really doubt UEFA will support a Balkans bid over Spain/Portugal. Then you either plough ahead of maybe get some compromises from UEFA eg a Euros or major club finals. That is the realpolitik. N guarantee it will go to a UEFA nation(s) of course.
While those things are bad, they sound like the sort of things that are done by a small minority of people. Also, Qatar says 'hi". That said, I think it makes more sense for these nations to co-host a Euro first, especially since we just had a World Cup in eastern Europe.
In fairness I'm sure people said the exact same things about Russia a few years ago and it worked out perfectly fine in the end.
I think for me the difference is there was a lot of unfounded scaremongering regarding Russia, whereas with the Balkan bid the concerns are supported by evidence. Bulgaria has been found guilty of their fans racially abusing players on multiple occasions. Matches in Greece have been abandoned due to crowd violence. Abuse toward Muslim players in Serbia is documented. These are all factors undermining the Balkan nations’ ability to provide a safe and supportive environment to guests from all over the World in 2030. This must play on FIFA’s mind when assessing the viability of this bid.
And meanwhile in Spain ... https://www.marca.com/en/football/spanish-football/2021/04/05/606b13bcca4741fb4d8b45b4.html and one shall not forget, where Ceferin is coming from and wasn't Platini president when the Euro 2016 was awarded to France and wasn't Havelange FIFA president when we had Argentina-Spain-Mexico in row?
The rules still apply where if a confederation hosted either of the previous 2 (AFC and CONCACAF) only they are exempt from hosted 2030?
Who knows? FIFA is probably going to make the rules as they go along depending on how much money they can make.
Why is it dumb? I thought its a reasonable way to ensure the world cup gets to different parts of the world.
That rule only refers to the previous edition, not the last two. Incidentally, the biennial WC feasibility study stated that this rule could be reviewed in order to ensure a sufficiently wide pool of potential hosts for FIFA to choose from.
The rule has been the last two which was why there were no European bids for 2026, but as you say it will probably be reviewed. Not sure why it would need to change if they have more world cups. More world cups means a confederation could host every six years rather than every twelve.
Yeah, if anything the rule makes even more sense if there is a WC every 2 years. It seems a bit odd that, say, Japan or Australia can't host 2030 just because Qatar bought the 2022 WC. But to me the rule makes sense in almost every other case. Especially if a WC is co-hosted by 2-4 countries, like 2026.
It unnecessarily restrains bids. Qatar - then 8 years later to China or Japan or Australia does not seem like a problem. In fact, less of a problem than Qatar to Egypt, which are both in the Middle East. Same for Russia (eastern Europe); then 8 later to Western Europe - say Spain. 8 years is a long time; I'm fine if after 2018, Russia, 2026 had been in Europe. Same for 2030 being in Japan, Korea, Australia, or China. I just don't see Qatar as culturally or geographically related, even if they share a continent.
Because there's no way those countries pony up the money to build the minimum TWELVE 50,000+ stadia, especially since most of them would end up being white elephants afterwards, just like many of the stadia in South Africa, Brazil, and Russia. The Spanish/Portugese bid is much more logical if you plan on giving UEFA hosting rights, since you already have nine 50,000+ stadia in those two countries.
not so sure how stadium allocation would be, but if done smart most of those stadiums would be used well. apart from that couple of good ones already exist in the region still, no way this bid wins any time soon, if ever.
BBC: The UK and Republic of Ireland football associations have agreed not to bid for the 2030 World Cup. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60285799
2030 will be in Spain and Portugal 200% sure. With unanymous UEFA support they already have too many votes and they can also "buy" a lot of votes from Asia as well. Morocco doesn't even have unanymous support in Africa. And unfortunately the south american bid is dead, the Argentinian government has basically withdrawn support and the region as a whole is not economically attractive enough for FIFA or sponsors to get money (the thing they care about the most).
According to the current FIFA statutes, it is only one edition. See article 68 paragraph 4 below. The right to host the event shall not be awarded to members of the same confederation for two consecutive editions of the FIFA World Cup™. Therefore China can bid to host the 2030 FWC.
You are right in saying that's what FIFA regulations currently say. Not sure when it changed but the rule was two consecutive tournaments after a confederation hosted which was in place for world cups 2018 (CAF and CONMEBOL ineligible), 2022 (UEFA and CONMEBOL ineligible) and 2026 (AFC and UEFA ineligible). It will be interesting to see what happens if an AFC nation bids for 2030.