Wednesday, December 1, 2010

World Cup 2010 Blog: “Quelle Surprise, BBC’s Doc Exposes FIFA Corruption” plus 1 more

World Cup 2010 Blog: “Quelle Surprise, BBC’s Doc Exposes FIFA Corruption” plus 1 more

Link to International Football News - World Cup Blog

Quelle Surprise, BBC’s Doc Exposes FIFA Corruption

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 11:00 AM PST

Sepp-Blatter-001

The much anticipated BBC documentary detailing the probe into FIFA’s handling of World Cup bids was finally aired, with some unsurprisingly surprising results: they’re quite dirty.

The man running the show is the rather infamous Andrew Jennings, who earned his fame by running afoul of FIFA, writing a book on their dabblings on the wrong side of integrity.

Though informative, unfortunately we can only assume nothing will change, as this is FIFA, and FIFA’s been doing whatever it wants for years.

Still, however, a good watch.

[Via 101 Great Goals]


Soundoff: Who Will Host the 2018/2022 World Cups?

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 10:01 AM PST

FIFA-Executive-Summary-Spain-PortugalThe clock is tumbling down on the World Cup 2018/2022 bid process, now at less than 48 hours. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably heard every rumor imaginable, and that everyone outside of The Betherlands (a portmanteau seemingly too good to pass up – even Nelgium works – but they will) and South Korea (which will be placated by the 2018 Winter Olympics), has been tipped to receive the tournament.

However, a key piece of info has arisen:

England and the U.S. are the only countries bidding to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 that can meet FIFA's revenue targets, a study commissioned by soccer's governing body said.


Sure, any study can be mangled to fit any desired outcome, but how many of those studies make their way into the hands of FIFA? That’s all that really counts.

This isn’t some extraordinary news nugget, though. England and the US have been the on-paper front runners forever, providing safe, reliable, plain Jane bids in the face of allegation after allegation of FIFA misconduct.

Which makes it unlikely one or both will get the bid for the simple fact that these things never turns out as it should. FIFA’s about money, yes, but it’s about legacy building too.

Oh, and corruption, which is a major consideration.

So here are the bidders…

2018:


England
Russia
Sportugal (Spain-Portugal)
The Betherlands (Belgium-Netherlands)


2022:

Australia
Japan
Qatar
South Korea
US

I’ll happily concede England are USA are the favorites…and then pick Sportugal and Qatar. Because that’s just how FIFA works.

So who do you think will host the 2018 & 2022 World Cups?