Tweet
February 3, 2009, 1:13 pm Will Obama Boost U.S. World Cup Bid?
By Jeffrey MarcusOf the 13 countries who submitted 11 bids to host the 2018 World Cup, only one has a rock-star head of state, an advantage that Sunil Gulati says will help the United States win the right to host the tournament for a second time.
GOAL
U.S. Bids to Host 2018 or 2022 World Cup
As Jack Bell reports in his weekly Goal soccer column, the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup, with a cumulative attendance of more than 3.5 million fans, a record at the time.
“Given everything that, frankly, President Obama has said, everything he stands for, everything he’s talked about in terms of reaching out to the world,” the U.S. Soccer Federation president said Monday, ”that trying to bring the global game to the United States and opening our borders up for a festival of 32 countries and hundreds of thousands of people from all corners of the world would be viewed in a very positive way.”
According to FIFA, the other bids were filed by England, Russia, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Indonesia and Qatar. There were joint bids from Netherlands-Belgium and Spain-Portugal, but FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter, has said he favors single nation hosts over tandems.
“In FIFA, there are decisions which have been taken by the executive committee in view of the organization of the World Cup,” he said, according to Reuters. “As soon as there is a candidacy or three or four relevant candidacies that only one country can organize it, we are directly going to reject the double candidacies.”
Gulati isn’t the only sports executive who thinks Obama’s popularity abroad will boost his country’s bid. The organizers behind Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics turned to Obama, who lived in Chicago and represented Illinois in the Senate, to give their effort a boost in November. Obama taped a video message that was shown to a meeting of European Olympic Committees in Instanbul in the fall.
“The United States would be honored to have the opportunity to host the Games and serve the Olympic movement,” Obama said in the video. “As president-elect, I see the Olympic and Paralympic Games as an opportunity for our nation to reach out, welcome the world to our shores and strengthen our friendships across the globe.”
How much will Obama’s support help the U.S. bids? It remains to be seen. After all, both FIFA and the International Olympic Committee are vehemently opposed to mixing politics and sport (in theory). And other countries have their fair share of celebrity muscle to throw behind World Cup bids.
“Barack Obama effect, or the David Beckham allure?” writes Rob Hughes for The International Herald Tribune. “It’s a tight call when you are bidding to host major sporting events these days.”
“You can bet that Beckham, meanwhile, will be recruited to use his considerable charm on the 24-man FIFA executive committee as the persuasion for World Cup votes builds up.”
Who will FIFA prefer?
By Jeffrey MarcusOf the 13 countries who submitted 11 bids to host the 2018 World Cup, only one has a rock-star head of state, an advantage that Sunil Gulati says will help the United States win the right to host the tournament for a second time.
GOAL
U.S. Bids to Host 2018 or 2022 World Cup
As Jack Bell reports in his weekly Goal soccer column, the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup, with a cumulative attendance of more than 3.5 million fans, a record at the time. “Given everything that, frankly, President Obama has said, everything he stands for, everything he’s talked about in terms of reaching out to the world,” the U.S. Soccer Federation president said Monday, ”that trying to bring the global game to the United States and opening our borders up for a festival of 32 countries and hundreds of thousands of people from all corners of the world would be viewed in a very positive way.”
According to FIFA, the other bids were filed by England, Russia, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Indonesia and Qatar. There were joint bids from Netherlands-Belgium and Spain-Portugal, but FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter, has said he favors single nation hosts over tandems.
“In FIFA, there are decisions which have been taken by the executive committee in view of the organization of the World Cup,” he said, according to Reuters. “As soon as there is a candidacy or three or four relevant candidacies that only one country can organize it, we are directly going to reject the double candidacies.”
Gulati isn’t the only sports executive who thinks Obama’s popularity abroad will boost his country’s bid. The organizers behind Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics turned to Obama, who lived in Chicago and represented Illinois in the Senate, to give their effort a boost in November. Obama taped a video message that was shown to a meeting of European Olympic Committees in Instanbul in the fall.
“The United States would be honored to have the opportunity to host the Games and serve the Olympic movement,” Obama said in the video. “As president-elect, I see the Olympic and Paralympic Games as an opportunity for our nation to reach out, welcome the world to our shores and strengthen our friendships across the globe.”
How much will Obama’s support help the U.S. bids? It remains to be seen. After all, both FIFA and the International Olympic Committee are vehemently opposed to mixing politics and sport (in theory). And other countries have their fair share of celebrity muscle to throw behind World Cup bids.
“Barack Obama effect, or the David Beckham allure?” writes Rob Hughes for The International Herald Tribune. “It’s a tight call when you are bidding to host major sporting events these days.”
“You can bet that Beckham, meanwhile, will be recruited to use his considerable charm on the 24-man FIFA executive committee as the persuasion for World Cup votes builds up.”
Who will FIFA prefer?
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
Comment