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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

World Cup 2010 Blog: FIFA’s Week From Hell Carries On: Stadium Opponent Murdered.

Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

FIFA’s Week From Hell Carries On: Stadium Opponent Murdered.

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 02:04 PM PDT

The walls are crashing down around FIFA it would appear:

Fresh on the back of news that World Cup votes were put up for sale (quelle freakin’ surprise), today it emerged that one of the men who alleged corruption in the building of South Africa’s Mbombela Staidum was murdered…by poison.

[Segue to music indicating a supremely dramatic turn in events.]

This brings the death tally surrounding the stadium, which is quite lovely (in a crazy “I might kill you” sort of way), to nine.

James Nkambule collapsed and died at his home in Mpumalanga province last week. A confidential autopsy report said the 37-year-old was poisoned, according to South Africa’s Sunday Times .

Nkambule was reportedly the ninth local official in the past two years to be murdered or die in suspicious circumstances, allegedly for standing in the way of the tender process for the R1.3bn (£118m) Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit.

He claimed that corrupt politicians were behind a “hit list” in Mpumalanga and gave a copy to journalists and police. He said a Mozambican hit man known as “Josh” had confessed his involvement in the killings. Nkambule was attempting to get Josh into a witness protection programme, the Sunday Times said.

The story seems far more than simply a do-gooder murdered by evil baddies, so the rest of the story and background – along with the link from the bottom – is certainly worth a read.

More than simply an incident within South Africa involving the infrastructure from a past tournament, this is another damaging blow to FIFA given its timing. The organization’s integrity, always questioned in the dark corners, is now on public trial, so this won’t help.

And as always, somehow Sepp is to blame for this too.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

World Cup 2010 Blog: US Drops World Cup 2018 Bid; England Drops World Cup 2022 Bid.

US Drops World Cup 2018 Bid; England Drops World Cup 2022 Bid.

Posted: 15 Oct 2010 11:00 AM PDT

worldcup1822

These moves have been unofficial for some time with FIFA reportedly just dropping them from consideration and pushing the 2018 World Cup to Europe, but today they’ve been made official – probably with some heavy pushing from FIFA.

Nothing’s really changed but the names on the bid committee: World Cup 2018 has always been heading to Europe, while 2022 will go either Asia (including Australia) or the US.

The news reads as such:

FIFA says the United States has pulled out of the bidding race for the 2018 World Cup to focus on getting hosting rights in 2022.

FIFA says the decision, which had been expected, comes after “months of careful deliberation” between FIFA, UEFA and the U.S. bid team.

Which happened swiftly as “What’s wrong with you? You’re wasting our time.”

What should be the final bid setup for both 2018 & 2022:

2018 Bids

Belgium & Netherlands
England
Portugal & Spain
Russia

2022 Bids

Australia
Japan
Qatar
South Korea
United States

To be honest – and with a little help from those in the know at World Football Insider – the feeling here has always been the two bids in the news, England and the US, are the slight favorites for victory. FIFA even has granted one language a three-peat – Argentina, Spain & Mexico (which was originally given to Colombia, as well) – so going back-to-back with the English language nations likely won’t be a problem.

But wouldn’t England and the US four years apart just be too…boring and vanilla?

Friday, October 15, 2010

World Cup 2010 Blog: Japan’s World Cup 2022 Bid Technology In Video

Japan’s World Cup 2022 Bid Technology In Video

Posted: 14 Oct 2010 12:30 PM PDT

49 days and counting until the decision on World Cups 2018 & 2022 is made, so the bid nations are releasing their details in a huff.

Well, Qatar and Japan are, anyway. They’re waging battle for a futuristic, mind-numbingly expensive Asian cup while the rest of the world sort of sits back and watches.

Japan has detailed some of the technology it has planned for the tournament in the above video, including: the holographic replication of players and scantily-clad dancers, automatic translators inspired by Star Trek and human flight.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

World Cup 2010 Blog: Euro 2012 Qualifying Drama

Euro 2012 Qualifying Drama

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:49 AM PDT

SOCCER-EURO/

Belgium versus Austria was so excellent it deserves after the fact cinema screening across the globe whilst being served by holographic models wearing nothing but a few pixels, something Japan is already scheming up for their latest World Cup 2022 techno leak. Double fours in the scoreline tells part of the story, but three of those goals came in the final ten, with Belgium also hitting the inside of the post, only for it to squib back in the box, and Jan Vertonghen managing to confound those with common sense the world over by launching himself into orbit with what can only be termed “a stiff bump” (you’ll notice the ‘leg pull’ as he’s in the air, a technique reserved for the mantle which also holds the archer’s bow).

Pretty comparable to Portugal v Denmark of World Cup qualifying, really.

Not to be outdone, there was Balazs Dzsudzsak – failed that first time, just like every time – scored at the stroke of 93:58 in which he, yes, finished the Finnish to keep Hungary on its rise through European football. Extra time? Four minutes.

Better late than never.

[101GG]