Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says hosting the 2018 World Cup will improve the quality of life in Russia, which is spending at least $10 billion on upgrades to infrastructurein 13 cities to prepare to host World Cup games. “There will be less crime, less drug-taking,” Putin said. “In the end it’s an integrated, exclusively positive […]
world cup 2022
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Beckenbauer slams FIFA over vote
The flurry of criticism about FIFA and its handling of the recent vote on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts continued with harsh words from one of its most respected executives. German legend Franz Beckenbauer — an outgoing member of the executive committee — slammed the way FIFA changed its policy on releasing the […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Blatter jokes about Qatar's homophobia
FIFA President Sepp Blatter is confident that social and religious barriers can be overcome despite fears being raised over the staging of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Currentlaws mean drinking alcohol in public is forbidden, while bars and nightclubs are almost non-existent. Another issue could be public affection, and gay groups fear problems in […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
What next? A World Cup in Iceland?
By Paul Gardner One of the oldest of the many idiocies that infest soccer is the one that says that if you work hard and everyone likes you, you should always berewarded with the prize. There’s this World Cup business, for a start. It does not seem right to both England and the USA that […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Jordan's Prince Ali calls for Qatar 2022 switch
Another key soccer official has called on FIFA to switch the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from summer to winter to avoid the heat and to allow neighboring Arab nations to host games. Prince Ali of Jordan is seen as an ally of Qatari Mohmmed Bin Hammam, the Asian Football Confederation president and a memberof […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Chuck Blazer on the U.S. loss
[WORLD CUP 2022] A week after the vote by the FIFA executive committee to give the 2022 World Cup to Qatar over the United States and three other bidders, Chuck Blazer, the lone American on the executive committee that selected the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, finds himself in the Gulf. Blazer […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Just how did the vote go?
[WORLD CUP 2022] Like a U.S. presidential race, the race for the 2022 World Cup was a fascinating exercise in predicting the outcome — without the polling.After Qatar’s 14-8 victory in the final round of voting, the 2022 race had the added intrigue of trying to figure out who voted for whom. Only a few […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Blatter says English are 'bad losers'
FIFA President Sepp Blatter hit out at criticism of the selection of Russia and Qatar as the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. “To behonest, I was surprised by all the English complaining after the defeat. England, of all people, the motherland of fairplay ideas,” Blatter told Swiss magazine Weltwoche. “Now some of […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
World Cup announcement sends Qatari stocks soaring
Qatar’s selection as host of the 2022 World Cup sent the Qatari stock market index soaring on Sunday, the first trading day after FIFA selected the Gulf state as the host. The Qatar 2022 bid calledfor billions of dollars of investment in stadiums and other sports facilities, hotels, a transportation network and other infrastructure. The […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Will the Big Nations Take the World Cup Away from FIFA?
By Paul Gardner The idea — somewhat strange at first, admittedly — of an air-conditioned World Cup held in a tiny little Middle East country which, you can be sureof this, most people would have difficulty locating with any certainty, begins to sink in. I mean … Qatar? Like it or not, that’s what the […]