FIFA can't even give the United States fair judging during the cup. The truth is this: FIFA has a chip on its shoulder. FIFA is a predominantly European run organization. It sees any American influence of any kind on soccer as threatening. You would think that from a money standpoint making soccer more popular in the United States would make sense. For once it's not only about the money. It's about the one thing people put above money, pride. Europe sees soccer as their sport. They see it as a sport they dominate, and they do. Sure, South America will field a great team every few years. But, in the finals of every World Cup is usually one European team. Anything that would threaten that dominance is quickly squashed. The last thing FIFA wants is for soccer to become popular in the United States. A really popular professional league in this country, with this countries financial backing, would be a threat to the European leagues. FIFA does not want European stars being enticed to play in an American league. Least of all one that calls their football ... gasp... soccer!
In one way it is about the money. Qatar made no sense as a choice for the world cup. Strict Islamic law will not allow any drinking at the games. Trust us, Soccer fans without beer is going to be a sight. Not to mention the 115 degree middle east summer heat. Yeah, we're sure the teams from Scandinavia are going to be great that year. It will also make a wonderful backyard target for an extremist group. And there is the fact that the Cup is 12 years away. Qatar was not the same country 12 years ago. With how quickly things can change in the middle east it may not be the same place in 12 years. Qatar does have a lot of oil money though. They paid celebrities to lobby for them to the Cup Committee. They're are many who say they were liberal with gifts to the committee members themselves.
This is a missed opportunity for FIFA. Soccer is the number one youth sport in this country. But, almost all kids move on to football, baseball, or basketball around junior high. Having a World Cup would have been a huge boost for soccer's popularity in this country. It would have made World Cup history in TV ratings guaranteed. As it stands now most folks in this country don't watch the world cup. But, as we saw with the Atlanta Olympics, you put a competition in America and we want to see it.
What really stings is how obvious all this is. The pick of Qatar makes it so plain that this was about pride and bribes. If FIFA had picked Australia, another contender, it would have made more sense. Australia has shown with the Sidney Olympics that they are more than capable of holding an event like this. Also they fit the soccer culture so much more than Qatar. All we can do is cheer USA USA USA! And hope FIFA isn't able to fix the referees for the USA games next Cup. Besides we have problems of our own: real football is in trouble in this country. We have our own corrupt ruling organization to take care of , its called the NCAA.Tweet
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