I have been watching the post mortem regarding England's failed bid and I saw the build up last night. If you listened to the pundits and so-called experts the thing was in the bag. Self praise filled the air and Ladbrokes had England at 8/13 red hot favourites to win the bid. Early today David Cameron called it "too close to call", a real tight race.
Fast forward and we find out that, out of 22 votes, England secured only TWO!!
Tonight's "pundit" opined that "England must be doing this wrong" after earlier having praised the "Hollywood slickness" that the bid had been conducted with.
Must have been a "bid of two halves" and not taking advantage of "situations early doors" eh Ron?
Knowledge talks - Wisdom listens
I thought it had been established beyond doubt that the winner would be the purveyor of the biggest bung. That’s why Putin didn't bother turning up, he knew they'd won, he signed the cheques.
The Brum V Villa "disturbance" last night probably didnt do England any favours. Personally my favourite host for a WC was Japan/S Korea where you could just walk into a pub at 6 in the morning to watch a game.
After the world cup, Qatar will be dismantling the stadiums and re-erecting them in third world countries, free of charge.
Edit: Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_2..._World_Cup_bid
Last edited by Metalattakk; 02-Dec-10 at 22:06.
"It makes my blood burn with metal energy..."
I wonder WHY you wouldn't support a British national team (if there were ever one)..............................Scots representatives? mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
All jokes apart England was never going to get it, and like one of our previous posters has said: the lottery etc is already stretched with the Olympics in 2012.
Only time will tell if Russia was the right choice.
I'd like to see it given to North Korea.
I'm pleased England didn't win the bid because we have enough hooligans in this country without importing more. And their arrogance in thinking it was a done deal too.
On FiveLive tonight, they listed the amount of things the English FA conceded to Warner in order to guarantee his votes. Scandalous. FIFA, just like the SFA are largely unaccountable and lack transparency. They base their decisions on where they need to win the greater marker share and new sources of income. England has been lining their pockets for years, so they'll not get another World Cup or Euro Championships for another two decades.
I think you're right on that one. Although I think it perhaps more true in terms of the Qatar win than the Russian one.
I work with two people who travelled to the champions league final in Moscow. They both said it was a terrible experience, no facilities, unhelpful/unfriendly locals and simply a "dodgy" atmosphere.
Hopefully they'll get that sorted for the world cup. I wonder what they are going to do regarding Visa's?
Russia will have their stadiums pulled up to scratch and get some temporary transport set up (shuttle buses most likely, like the South African World Cup) to make sure folk can get to and from games, but that'll be it. There'll be no new railways, no new hotels, no new airports and the several billion people who aren't there will never notice. A bit like the situation in South Africa - the WC left no lasting legacy there, in my opinion anyway.
My main gripe with Qatar is that your average fan will priced out of it. It's a millionaire's playground where the average salary is more than £150k, meaning there is almost no budget accomodation and the climate means camping is out the question. Your average fan won't be able to go and that's not what the World Cup should be about. Then there's the alcohol laws...
But, when the money keeps rolling in you don't ask questions.
Just watched the Panorama programme on FIFA corruption and it was quite convincing.
The more I read/hear about this, the more I'm convinced there are dodgy dealings going on.
There were 4 bids in for 2018. The voters were supposed to vote for their favourite choice in round one, then round 2, 3etc until a majority was gained.
In round 1, there were 4 choices. The results were: England 2 votes, Netherlands/Belgium 4 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 9 votes.
So England were eliminated. Fair enough? Maybe.
Next came round 2. Now because England were out, it is reasonable to presume that the 2 votes that were used for them in round 1 would be "moved". Why would any other votes change, if the voter was voting for their "best candidate?
But round 2 came as follows: Netherlands/Belgium 2 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 13 votes (Russia obtain absolute majority)
So 2 FIFA reps who thought Netherlands/Belgium were the best options 10 minutes beforehand suddenly changed their mind to support Russia, along with the two English votes.
Corrupt to the core.
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