Today was a big day for every football fan. Infact, a big day in the history of sports. FIFA’s executive committee gathered today in Zurich to vote for the hosting rights of the 2018 and 2022 world cup finals.
The honours have gone to Russia and Qatar respectively. Almost every football fanatic tuned in today to watch this grand event. People from the countries that took part in the bidding had very high hopes attached to it. A lot of hearts were broken today
and many people are still shocked over the results. Already a lot of people and officials have started to blame FIFA for alleged corruption prior to the polls. Some people were heard saying it out loud that FIFA officials sold their votes for a huge chunk
of cash. It is amazing how people go against something that does not fulfil its expectations. FIFA has always faced strict criticism after every big event.
The countries taking part in the bidding were Russia, England, Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium People from England are really angry. England was considered to be the hot favourite as 2018 world cup hosts. England’s campaign was heavily backed by state
of the art stadiums, good transportation and a good security plan. The only thing that was not in there favour was the availability of enough practice fields near the hotels were the players were supposed to stay. May be only this thing led to the down fall
of their bid. English bidding was heavily backed by David Beckham, Prince William and Prime Minister David Cameron.
All three of them looked very disappointed after the result. This is the first time after the 1966 world cup finals that England entered into bidding. On the other hand the Russian team looked jubilant. This is the first time Russia will hold the magnum
opus event. It was Russia’s decision of making 13 new venues for the event which gave it the extra edge. The clips shown on the Russian channels speak truly about the excitement of the entire Russian nation. Now there will be a long debate among the football
frenzy fans about the decision by the committee. Even the other bidders find it very hard to digest.
In the other part of the bidding Qatar stole the show. The major competition was between United States of America, Australia and Qatar. United States of America has already hosted a world cup final way back in 1994 where Brazil emerged as champions. The
USA had very high hopes of getting the grand honour. Australia was also trying hard to get the decision in its favour. All that lobbying failed and even the charm of gorgeous Nicole Kidman failed to vow the FIFA executive committee. Qatar’s campaign was run
by the legendary footballer from France Zinedine Zidane.
This is a big day for Qatar. The oil rich country from the gulf has all the right means to host this event. Though it will be exceptionally hot in Qatar during the world cup and its a very small country but Qatar has shown its potential by hosting a very
successful Asiad in 2006.
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