Signed.
This petition has my full backing.
The World Cup needs America
Signed.
In
WC '94 was awesome. The Yanks do it right.
Fuck off Qatari cunts
Iâm in.
I think weâd do a splendid job here in Australia. We have the infrastructure, we have the weather (cloudless sky, 24 degrees in the shade, totes amazeballs) and we have the Irish pubs. Weâve demonstrated that we can host the worldâs biggest sporting events such as the British Loins tour. The matches would also be well timed for the key Australian TV market. It would really be living the dream. There would be some craic down in County Bondi if Ireland were playing, especially in the Cock n Bull and the Tea Gardens. The only problem would be that it would inconvenience the footy season. The timing of State of Origin is sacrosanct as far as Iâm concerned.
Iâve sent a link for this thread to FIFA. Thanks for the backing, guys. They canât ignore this groundswell of support forever.
Signed.
Signing in.
The USA is the only logical choice after the Qataris get the arse.
[SIZE=6]America is waiting in the wings if Qatar loses 2022[/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]Presidential support shows that the USA is finally getting football[/SIZE]
When world footballâs governing body published its evaluation report on the United Statesâ failed bid to host the tournament, it cited the absence of âguarantees of federal government supportâ as the central cause for concern should the tournament be hosted by the country.
Never mind the punishing desert heat of Qatar, which was shamefully overlooked by the Fifa executive committee in the final ballot which handed the competition to the gas-rich Gulf state. When it comes to finding a reason to go elsewhere, the lack of green lights from politicians proved the ultimate roadblock to a âyesâ vote for the States.
However, as President Obama tweeted regular encouragement for Jurgen Klinsmannâs Team USA from the White House before, during and after the second-round defeat against Belgium in Salvador last Tuesday, the message was clear. The US has now embraced football to the extent that it even matters in the West Wing.
Not only did Obama tweet his support - he also spent time on the telephone to goalkeeper Tim Howard and captain Clint Dempsey in the wake of the Belgium game - the White House even published a photograph of Chuck Hagel, Secretary of State for Defence, on a call to Howard at the same time as clutching a football in his right hand.
That âfederal government supportâ which Fifa was concerned about? American politicians now cannot get enough of the game and that, along with mouth-watering financial numbers, will not have gone unnoticed at Fifaâs Zurich headquarters. If Fifa is left with no option but to take the 2022 tournament elsewhere once investigator Michael Garcia publishes his report in the autumn into allegations of a corrupt bidding process around Qatar 2022, the US ticks every box, politically, financially and in a sporting sense.
Already, there is an acknowledgement at high levels within Fifa that the States has arrived as a force to be reckoned with, both on the pitch and off it. âWhat we see in the United States is staggering,â Jerome Valcke, Fifaâs secretary general, said. âThe country has the largest level of youth soccer in the world, with 20 million young people playing, and there is a commitment from FIFA to work with US Soccer.â
The key now is to get the Americans onside to the point where they will step into the breach should Qatar 2022 fall through, with many senior figures in the US still scarred by the fiasco which saw their bid blown away by the Gulf state.
âMaybe weâll bid (for 2026),â Sunil Gulati, president of the US Soccer Federation, said. "But weâre not going to bid unless the rules are changed.
âIf that part of the process can change, then of course weâre interested in bringing the World Cup to the United States. Absolutely.â
Turning to the States in 2022, however, could hand Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, the opportunity to map out the tournament until 2030 and fulfil his desire to take the World Cup to China.
With an election to fight, the ability to stage a tournament in Concacaf (2022), Asia (China 2026) and a centenary tournament in Argentina and Uruguay in 2030 could secure Blatterâs position for the next cycle, with every major confederation bar Africa hosting the World Cup between Russia 2018 and 2030.
The States is where the money is, however. Significantly, five of the 14 international sponsors and partners of Brazil 2014 are American companies - Coca-Cola, McDonaldâs, Johnson & Johnson, Budweiser and Visa - so Fifa will be acutely aware of corporate relations in the States.
However, Brazil has also showcased the outbreak of football fever in a country. This is not an entirely new phenomenon: even 20 years on from hosting USA '94, America still holds the record for highest average attendances at a World Cup. The figure of 68,991 dwarfs the next highest average of 52,491, which was set in Germany in 2006.
Well-attended stadiums means more money through the turnstiles and more spent on merchandise. And no country possesses a greater array of giant super stadiums than the States. From New York in the east to Seattle in the Pacific north-west, there are state-of-the-art arenas capable of attracting more than 70,000 spectators.
In Brazil, 196,838 tickets have been bought by Americans, a figure second only to the host nation, and the demographic of those travelling supporters - largely middle-class families with their children, plus twentysomething guys with their girlfriends - once again sets the Fifa cash counters into overdrive, given they are the demographic most likely to stock up on merchandise.
Nike has already reaped the rewards of being Team USAâs official kit supplier. âWe donât give out numbers but sales for the two US soccer kits that we make have been very strong,â Charlie Brooks, Nikeâs vice president of global communications, said. "The red, white and blue away kit was the bestselling US kit weâve ever done in North America in the first two weeks after its launch. And even before the tournament had started, the level of interest was huge - we posted a 21 per cent increase in our football product revenues for the year leading up to the World Cup.
âThe average sports fan in the US is getting into football during this World Cup like never before. It shows this is no longer a minority sport but one that is on the up.â
It is also a trend that is apparent in the television viewing figures, which have shot through the roof, with more than 25 million watching the 2-2 draw with Portugal a fortnight ago. By comparison, Major League Baseballâs 2013 World Series averaged viewing figures of 15 million. âTo see this overwhelming surge of interest in the United States is a true âwatershedâ moment for the FIFA World Cup and for football,â Niclas Ericson, director of FIFA TV, said. âWe have been thrilled to see the way the American fans are embracing the World Cup like never before.â
If they do end up staging the tournament in 2022, the Americans are likely to set the bar higher and higher.
Telegraph
signing in.
I am banned from Qatar.
In. Fuck the rag heads.
1994 World Cup still has the highest attendance of any World Cup, in both overall attendance and per game. This despite it being only a 24 team tournament (52 total games as opposed to the 64 total games in every world cup from '98 onwards).
Fuck off Qatar and fuck off FIFA
Yet again John Delaney has gotten a massive coup for Irish football:clap:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/world-cup/us-world-cup-heroes-to-face-irish-30423366.html
I want to know how the USA Residents Committee feels before I give this my full support.
Iâd hate to put the entire nation in a potentially embarrassing situation that will require the intervention of the incumbent Pontiff in 2022 (Pope Padraig a hAon) to sort it out.
FIFA genuinely donât give two fucks
Signed. God Bless America.