South Africa has the infastructure, money, security, and will to host the cup, amound all it's races. is everyone forgetting the rugby world cup that was held there, i don't remember hearing about any problem with that cup. SA also is better equiped to handle the cup than morocco, egypt, and tunisa. the south africa government also has more money than those countries
Sierra F****** Leone?!?!?! The country where the guerrillas were chopping off people's arms?!?!?! Iraq has a better chance. Vatican City has a better chance. Good God almighty, some people.... I'm not going to pile on the person who said "it was promised" is a reason it'll go to SAfrica.
The US will not get the WC in 2014, let alone 2010. I think anyone suggesting this is totally ignorant of football history, tradition and fairness. England had the WC last in 1966, the USA as recently in 1994. Do you honestly think the USA will get the WC again, twice in 20 years before England? I'll cut off my balls and hand them to you if the USA gets it before 2022 because nobody will vote for them in Europe and Africa.
Uh, that's highly unlikely, the latter anyway. Morocco and Tunisia don't border each other. They both border Algeria, which is in NO position to host any major tournament.
At Spector Travel of Boston, you can get tickets from New York to Johannesburg starting from $1050 round trip. Not prohibitive at all. http://www.spectortravel.com/Pages/tickets.html
It's a cruel joke, actually. Sierra Leone is just emerging from a brutal 10 year civil war. They just had free elections but they can't bother thinking about even the African Nations Cup for at least another 30 years. Liberia is going back into civil war. Sadly, I have friends in both countries.
Germany will have had it twice since '66 too. Besides, I wouldn't exclude some kind of deal where CONCACAF helps make sure an African country gets it in 2010 in exchange for CAF voting for a US candidacy in 2014.
How'd your bid for 2006 go, there, sir? How's that new Wembley coming along? Your country going to pull off a more successful World Cup than we Yanks (who, as everyone knows, shouldn't be playing football in the first place) anytime soon? You may have to take our word for it that the 1994 World Cup was very successful, seeing as how you guys didn't get to experience it firsthand. Have a nice day. And have your Mighty Titan ready.
Re: Africa will get WC2010 Did you take the time to read this thread at all? You have given very simplistic reasons for South Africa to host the World Cup. Please go back and see why your points 2 and 4 were refuted with objective counterpoints.
I'm looking forward to his gem of a reply. His post was Eurosnobbery at it's worst. Tis a pity people can't recognize the good without letting their bias get in the way. England has a lot of problems with their national stadium. last I read the new Wembley was projected at almost $1.5 billion dollars and last I looked on their webcam, the Spires of old Wembley looked remarkably undemolished.
Africa--WC You know despite the ongoing civil war in their country Sierra Leone was able to put together a national team that even beat Nigeria during one of it's qualifying matches for WC 2002. I'm happy to see that things are better there now, although they certainly won't host a World Cup, particularly not with Liberia, which is full of trouble. I think Africa HAS to host 2010 and I think Egypt is probably the best choice, or perhaps Tunisia. Anyone who claims that airfare from the US is too expensive is more than a little bit off base...come on guys, do you really think tens of thousands of people from the US would even bother to go see the WC in person??? A North African country would offer Europeans an fairly easy trip. The time zones would work well for most of the rest of the world. Certainly the stadia and infrastructure is a major problem but it can be overcome in time and, let's face it, not every host nation(s) are going to be the same...that's why they call it the WORLD cup and frankly that's what makes it so damned interesting. The world doesn't pay enough attention to Africa as it is. Hosting a WC--even in North African and not in sub-Saharan Africa--and even with some difficulty and discomfort, could make a huge difference in the worldwide attention that the continent gets. Over ONE THIRD of the population of Botswana has the HIV virus...Now that's sad!!! The more people that know about this--perhaps attention gained through WC 2010--the better off Africa will be in the future.
I have to agree. Who cares about the price of the plane ride? People spend their life fortunes for this event. I agree that it will be good for Africa to host the World Cup. I just want things to bouce back first especially in South Africa. Tunisia and Morocco are the best choices. Anyway, the country with the stadiums now, the infrastructure and the money and hasn't hosted before is Canada. I would say them before any other European country. I mean unless they go to a smaller European country which would be great. I say Switzerland or Austria. It's not good to play in such hot places in the Summer. Go to the fresh air places. Anyway, the only thing I could say that Canada has against it is the distance between sites(Say Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary as five choices) and possibly size of stadiums. I don't think they have the biggest stadia. I think at least 50,000 for each stadium is a requirement or something. I may be wrong.
Re: Africa--WC What is the normal temperature in July in these two nations? How many venues of 50K or more does each nation have? After the complaints about '02 being more a test of fitness than soccer, I don't think there's much chance of Egypt getting a World Cup. There are 3 games a day early in the WC, which means one game in midafternoon, and one in early evening. Maybe I'm wrong about Egypt's and Tunisia's temperatures, but I question whether that will work in July. I know Egypt has a pretty substantial population, but I thought Tunisia is a tiny country. What is its population?
It would be a nice gesture to hold the WC in S. Africa, but I just don't think it is possible. I think the comment that they would be better off hosting it sooner rather than later is spot on. The situation in S. Africa is getting worse, not better, and is not likely to change. Check out: http://www.economist.com/countries/SouthAfrica/
WC Africa 2010 Sure North Africa is hot in July but that's why they call it the WORLD Cup. Let's face it folks, part of the beauty of football--at least for me--is that it is a worldwide sport. This is the great strength of the sport. It's played EVERYWHERE, from the largest and strongest nations to the smallest, poorest nations. I really believe that the WC should reflect this, at least to some extent. So it's hot in Egypt or Tunisia in July...that's just something everyone will have to deal with! So they may not have the best stadia...again, it's part of the game. It reflects the state of the game worldwide not just in the countries with money. People might be surprised at how well Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa or some other fairly stable African nation might do as host.
Yes, I read my own posts. But the thing is that because of a Eurocentric schedule the World Cup has to be played in the summer. However, on that basis alone you could play in South Africa or Australia in July. I think Australia would also be a good choice. But if we ignore weather for a moment then we could play in North Africa. Problem for the players especially European ones was more the long season as well as the humidity. I say if we have it North Africa then we have in April or September. Think of it Premiership matches in June. It would be better than to play in Newcastle in December. But the problem is that we have to play in the middle of summer. That's why I say Canada, Switzerland, South Africa or Australia. But I really think that they should switch it to another time of year. After all, several leagues took this past June off to play in the World Cup.
Yes, because you know how much FIFA will listen to the US and Finland, or whoever the heck Scandinavian country it was that also took June off.
Re: WC Africa 2010 I honestly have no idea, I'm just asking...what is the season for the Egyptian league? Do they play in the summer? I'm speechless in the face of this, but just wanted to highlight it.
Switzerland?!?!?! Could they handle a Euro championship? Geez, why stop there. I still think Vatican City has been unfairly overlooked.
Apparently Egypt goes September through June. I didn't think there'd be much temperature variance in Egypt, but apparently there is. I'll bet their "dry season" is hell, though.