Well, damn. That's a huge let-down. One of the biggest complaints about the 2010 World Cup was that in any other scenario, a team like South Africa would not have been there. Qatar is light years worse. Exhibit A: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MKWxzJWvtYs?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MKWxzJWvtYs?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> FIFA must have fallen to the money trap, which frankly doesn't surprise me. Qatar has promised to build insane stadiums while Russia will also have a lot of "Oh, look what we found" money. It's very, very dumb for them to pass on England. I'm annoyed by their fans at times, but they have pedigree and one of the best domestic leagues in the world. The Qatar choice baffles me and makes Russia look sane by comparison.
That's like comparing Brent Price's NBA career to Matt Maloney. In the grand scheme of things, the history, the pedigree are a moot point.
Yeah, why would anyone be upset that the USA lost out on a great event like the WC. Come on, Qatar and their 1.6 million people? I understand doing it in the Middle East, but Qatar? Really? Has to be a payoff of some sort. PS. I hope the USA is in Qatar's draw...... DD
By 2022 they'll be ready? How about one that's ready in 2010? How about one that won't have to spend billions in infrastructure? How about one that is all but guaranteed to break the attendance record...THAT WAS SET IN THE USA? You'd be pissed, too. You say we don't have enough passion about the game and then you s*** on us when we do?
LMAO at all you haters. I bet you're REALLY pissed that a Middle Eastern country is hosting it. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. This is too funny. We just hosted it in 1994, I think all the countries should get a chance, especially the ones that are developing real fast.
Add to the fact that more than 90% of America doesn't care, or doesn't even know about the FIFA bid. The whole Arabian Subcontinent was rooting for Qatar. Soccer is their Football, Baseball and Basketball. I remember going to Qatar last year, and they had signs up all over the country for a 2022 bid back then..
I actually agree to a point that it doesn't matter. If the bid would have been made up of multiple countries in the region it would make a lot more sense, but as it is a country about the same size as Connecticut will be hosting.
You cant look at it as JUST Qatar. You know damn well every able family from Saudi, UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, etc etc is going to go to Qatar for this. You know damn well its more than just Qatar. Ofcourse its a payoff, Qatar paid for all sorts of Journalists to come out and vacation in Qatar, simply so they would write fluff pieces for the Bid, and it worked in their favor.
How many people watched the MLS championship this year? This is just about the right argument to make.
No, actually it's more like comparing Brent Price's NBA career to YOUR NBA career. Insofar as he had one, and you didn't. The US history goes back a hundred years. Good article here about when the US had the best league in the world in the 20's. http://www.slate.com/id/2256165/ Qatar has, uh, whatever it has.
Japan and Korea are widely considered to be the two best Asian soccer countries in the last 20 years?
Why does the size matter? Population wise, some of the cities that will be getting new stadiums are smaller than Sugar Land. It might have made more sense to do a group of countries, but the logistics, expenses, and the security would have been a nightmare.
My friend just told me you can only drink in hotels in Qatar. The English and Australian embassy phones are going to be ringing off the hook!
Also for 2018, we(England) have two people to blame-Lord Triesman and the Media, plain and simple. FIFA don't look favourably at expose's aimed at them and the bloody English media just had to take aim at FIFA the same year the 2018 host is announced. Of course FIFA ex-co members ignored the England presentations which shat all over the Russians and the Spain/Portugal presentations. Disgusted. Qatar's bid
Sure, great, it is like comparing Brent's career to mine, but the point is that history doesnt matter. South Africa didn't have a great World Cup history. Yet they put up an excellent World cup, they were great hosts, and they did very well.
It's actually terrible news for FIFA - AB-InBev's marketing dollars aren't going to flow so freely as last year. But I'm sure the grease payments flowed freely this year, so it washes out.
this is why i think many of the more level headed people are confused with this pick. it should be about numbers, ultimately it probably was about the money. you're telling me that an 11,586 sq km country with 840,926 (July 2010 est.) can handle 3 million? it wasn't even a big deal to the US in '94 and we still hold the attendance record, that number would have been surpassed in 2022. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...rd-highest-in-history/articleshow/6159885.cms https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/qa.html
