Russia and Qatar Earn World Cup Bids
FIFA broke new ground by awarding Russia and Qatar the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on Thursday, choosing first-time hosts over the more conventional choices of England and the United States. The winning bids were announced by FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter, after the voting concluded by FIFA’s executive committee in Zurich.
Russia beat out bids by England and joint bids by Spain and Portugal and the Netherlands and Belgium. Russia had been considered the favorite because for England to win, it meant overcoming backlash from recent British news media reports of corruption in the bidding process. Two voting members of FIFA’s 24-member executive committee were suspended.
Russia’s bid, though, overcame the late jolt of Vladimir Putin announcing at the last minute that he would not be on hand for the Russian bid presentation. England’s prime minister, David Cameron, along with Prince William, came in person to boost their country’s bid.
Qatar overcame the United States’s bid, which urged FIFA to embrace the country’s size, diversity and marketing power. Also in the running for 2022 were Australia, Japan and South Korea.
Russia will be hosting its first World Cup. Qatar will host the first held in the Middle East.
For the first time in 44 years, FIFA created the bonanza of awarding two World Cups to eager countries in one day, with today’s announcement of the 2018 and 2022 hosts, which only further complicated a process already snarled by tales of corruption.
The competing countries made their final presentations to FIFA on Wednesday and Thursday morning. Former President Bill Clinton and the actor Morgan Freeman joined the star soccer player Landon Donovan to make the case for the United States on Wednesday.
President Obama made a video appearance at the American bid presentation, which was broadcast live from Zurich before Thursday’s vote.
The presentation focused on the diversity of the United States, its passion for soccer, preparedness for the World Cup and the country’s ability to assist FIFA in its social mission to use soccer as a unifying global force.
Clinton picked up on this theme, noting that proposed American host cities each have residents from 100 to 150 nations.
“Maybe America’s best claim to this World Cup is that we have the only nation that can guarantee, no matter who makes the finals, we can fill the stadium with home nation rooters,” Clinton, the honorary chairman of the United States bid committee, told FIFA officials.
This process has been extraordinary for several reasons, not the least of which is the two-for-one announcement. FIFA has done it only twice in the past, in 1946 and 1966, but both times, only a single country was bidding for each tournament.
This bidding process has been marred by charges of corruption against 6 of the 24 members of FIFA’s executive committee. Two members have been barred from voting, and some have called for the vote to be postponed, saying it lacks credibility. FIFA has said it will hold the vote as scheduled.
The scandal took off in mid-October when reporters for The Sunday Times of London, posing as lobbyists for American companies, reported that two FIFA executive committee members had offered to sell their votes. As a result, Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Reynald Temarii of Tahiti were barred from the sport and fined by FIFA.
The Sunday Times of London also reported that it secretly filmed a former general secretary of FIFA, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, giving the names of officials who could be bribed. The paper reported that he also said the Portugal-Spain bid for 2018 and the Qatar bid for 2022 were colluding on a vote-exchange scheme to enhance their chances.
Bid officials denied the charges. FIFA said it found no evidence of a vote-swapping scheme. But the charges of corruption continued.
Lynn Zinser
The New York Times