Russia wins World Cup bid in parrot-sickening travesty The 2018 World Cup has been awarded to Russia. Rival bids from Spain/Portugal, England, and the Netherlands/Belgium were rejected in favour of bringing football home to the world's largest country. Disappointed crowds would be thronging Piccadilly Square and Trafalgar Square if it were not for snow-related transport …
I'd say there actually isn't anything more British than complaining.
I mean while everyone else was sucking up to FIFA we were slagging them off and airing programs about them being corrupt.
Who else has the balls to do that than us?
You should be able to feel a great sense of pride in that we can tell it as it really is, even in the face of this.
Mines the one with the England flag in the pocket...
If you ignore wrong doing and bury your head in the sand then those doing wrong will happily carry on. If you stand up for fairness or justice then you had better learn there is a cost to that, one that was always very much worth paying, still is, and will ever remain so.
People are gonna be wanting someone to blame for this, and the BBC has painted a massive great bullseye on its chest. Given David Cameron's close association with the failed bid, he's certainly going to be looking for a whipping boy, and - oh look! - there one is.
Now might be a good time to get down the bookies and put something on the licence fee going away during this parliament...
So what's been our excuse for the last 50 years?
How about people don't like us, becuase we're a bunch a smug, self satisfied, country invading, arrogant tossers who keep saying football's coming home, which pisses off every other nation (especially those that soundly beat us year in, year out at football.)
Still we can still bang on about 19fucking66 for another 50 years.
We're shit, people don't like us. Get over it.
So all the last minute begging in front of the FIFA officials for their delectation and delight ........ and amusement, didn't quite cut it then. Good! After watching the Panorama programme on TV and seeing the levels of corruption in the organisation it is shameful that the future King, the current Prime Minister and arguably the countrys best known footballer would parlez with these thieves for a few games of football.
I think I'd probably rather believe Fifa than anything they came up with... From the couple of occasions when I've known something about what they've been "exposing" I suspect that the National Enquirer has superior standards of honest journalism...
Fifa versus Panorama - one of those situations where there aren't actually any good guys...
The stadia aren't built comment is an actual fact (I'm sure you could probably go and take a look if your not convinced, but it's not the safest of countries). Transport is (and always has been) an issue in Russia - though the world cup might help them justify improving this. Roads in Moscow are terrible, for example.
Qatar at least doesn't have the same problems - they'll throw oil money into stadia and transport is no problem in a small, oil rich country. I wouldn't fancy playing 90 minutes+ in temperatures such as those in the Gulf. Alcohol induced trouble won't be a problem though...
Bias from FIFA? No smoke without fire, but either way, it does seem that the Beeb did scupper things somewhat. Perhaps they don't want to spend money on so much coverage (as would be expected by an England bid), so they sabotaged the bid by broadcasting the Panorama when they did. How's that for a paranoid plot.....?
The plus side of losing is that the tax payer won't have to subsidise the event by providing policing, infrastructure support etc. Oh, not to mention, a firm two fingers at the usual London bias that these bids tend to have.
You could have said the same things about World Cup in S.Africa, Brazil 2014 and the 2008 Olympics - all venues are built from scratch, traffic/transport is terrible and safety definitely an issue. Moscow has terrible roads and 24 hour congestions but the subway system is convenient.
This article just reeks of sour grapes from TheReg. The World Cup will be great for us telly watchers just like so many times before.
So at some point during 2018 the roads and shops will be less full of id10t's, since they will be in Russia - that's good news.
I recall visiting Asda and noticing that the shop was emptier, with people smiling at each other and it was an order of magnitude more pleasant, some big football event was happening and only sensible people were out and about.
Why can't this happen every year?
ttfn
I am spared the mindless gibbering of has been footballers and arse kissing grovelling politicians, my pocket is saved from the, whoops..you know I said it would cost 2billion, well its now costing 9billion thieving scum. and lets thieve the difference from the lottery funding that you would have had locally. Good day.
nobody takes any notice of them anyway.
it's obvious that fifa are trying to spread the football love around the world and develop it in new areas, hence russia and qatar.
there was so much arrogance about england winning because of the home of football nonsense that i'm glad we didn't get it.....a bit like the eurovision song contest - we have no clout around the world anymore, no-one takes a bit of notice of silly old auntie britain.
we need to get our heads out the sand and face a global reality - and probably move further away from the yanks who also didn't win the 2022 bid.....i wonder why...
England sends out the world's most prominent footballing brand, its prime minister and it's future king.... Putin doesn't bother to tip up, and still they win it.
Russia's spin doctors are hastily making this look like Putin overshadows the UK's finest, even when he doesn't bother turning up.
William's PR people should have advised him to go over to the Russian contingent and land one right up someone's bracket. It's nothing personal, it's just one of those public image things that needs to be seen to be done. He can buy the guy a drink afterwards, off-camera, and say sorry about that, etc.
At least that's my take on the royals.
Last time I recall it was British Royal being slapped on the face by a young Russian lady not the other way around:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1646735.stm
So I would not be sure about that. WIlliam might have gotten more than he would have bargained for with that one.
I would love to see Israel qualifying! It would be amazing to see if they would be allowed to enter the country at all! (considering theyre not allowed to at the moment! Hell your not even supposed to transit through Qatar if you have an Israeli entry stamp in your passport...
Will FIFA get the chance to show that its more powerful then the UN by forcing Qatar to let Israelis in (at least for the duration of the world cup!) - i hope we get to see... If for nothing else but the fireworks! :P
Oh yay, even the Register's joining in what appears to be the new national hobby - blaming the BBC for the failed World Cup bid. It couldn't be because...the infrastructure's not there, and we're still trying to figure out how the fuck we're going to get everything done and paid for before the Olympics, and England fans are notoriously fickle and would likely cease to give a shit/support the event/spend any money on it as soon as England get knocked out (as they inevitably will, let's be honest), could it?
No no, it must've been because of those allegations of corruption recently. Because it's not like anyone else has ever suggested FIFA were a corrupt bunch of thieving, self-serving shitehawks, is it?
I'm not really a football fan, but lets have a look....
"Oh yay, even the Register's joining in what appears to be the new national hobby - blaming the BBC for the failed World Cup bid."
I thought John Leyden said..
"Rumours from Zurich suggest voters punished England for its media's "hostile" coverage of allegations of corruption"
(that's rumours, from elsewhere) and
"The Beeb's decision to air an edition of Panorama on Monday .. may have been particularly untimely."
'may' - good word that, ask any lawyer. Regardless of the whinging from elsewhere, i'm not convinced John said the bid failed because of the Beeb - no. Your reading and opinion, obviously, differs - fair enough. Right, where were we ?...
"It couldn't be because...the infrastructure's not there,"
No - or at least highly unlikely given the comments from FIFA
"and we're still trying to figure out how the fuck we're going to get everything done and paid for before the Olympics,"
..probably not, no..
"and England fans are notoriously fickle and would likely cease to give a shit/support the event/spend any money on it as soon as England get knocked out (as they inevitably will, let's be honest), could it?"
No. We would have, they wouldn't.
"No no, it must've been because of those allegations of corruption recently. "
No (this is getting fun!)
"Because it's not like anyone else has ever suggested FIFA were a corrupt bunch of thieving, self-serving shitehawks, is it?"
No indeed - absolutely right on that last one.
A losing bid that cost us £13M
A desert country that has temperatures in excess of 40 Cent and no alcohol
A Russian state which is run by Batman and Robin aided by a gang of mafiaosa ...
Corrupt FIFA picked the most corrupt countries to do buisness with.
(P.S Qatar is not Saudi Arabia, they allow Israeli citizens in)
They'd need to get fit, concentrate on the game, learn some football skills (not the big mouth shag and run to the hairdresser skills they have now) and get some enthusiasm...
I still can't get over the 'too tired' comments at the last fiasco.
Errrm... Isn't it deadly hot in the Middle East in June..? I take it they will have to build indoor air-conditioned stadia then...
It's also not a very big place, so how many stadia would there be..?
To be honest, I don't care where the World Cup takes place, but it should at least be somewhere amenable...
"Even though I live in the UK I don't appreciate the remarks about Russia not having built stadia yet and allegations of bias from FIFA."
Hmm .. so you haven't read either the technical proposals OR the wikileaks saga OR the Panarama doc ..
Suggest you do .. just saying like, then you can have a grown up opinion.
It's a pity we won the Olympics. At least we're not going to be saddled with the "FIFA World Cup".
FIFA is probably as bent as the IOC or any other large organisation. WikiLeaks on FIFA would be amusing but I'm guessing there would be no surprises there either.
That the ball is round in Association Football...
I suspect Panorama were an order of magnitude out on their "3 FIFA members corrupt" storyline.
About time the FA got some balls & opted out of control by FIFA, let's bring some moral rectitude <snurgle> back into the game :-)
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Please don't group me with the 'we want a World Cup' bit. I am happier than a happy thing that we haven't got it. I utterly despise football and the majority of 'fans' that follow it.
I'm glad we aren't pissing water down the drain to promote the tosh and associated thuggery and binge drinking that accompanies it.
Russia on the other hand, is a very pleasant country and cheap to get to and stay in - so i suggest you get booking your tickets now.
"Russia on the other hand, is a very pleasant country and cheap to get to and stay in"
Yeah. I know of a guy who went there for business and stayed for several months, spending very little money.
He was kidnapped and later rescued by the police. Russian gangsters must be rubbing their hands almost to the point of spontaneous combustion. :)
As for what will happen when many thousands of violent hooligans enter a country with sctrict alcohol prohibition and a medieval justice system... my bet is that it won't lack comedic value.
Mine is the one with the hollowed out Bible, containing a flask of booze. Oh, wait...
Note: I'm Spanish, and I thank the FSM in my prayers every night for my country not winning the World Cup bid.
And then be surprised that the winning bid went to the countries with the best track record in corruption? Wow, surprise.
I'd be a bit more worried about Qatar though. Fine place if you happen to be an adult male Muslim. Bit less pleasant if you happen to be non-Muslim or female.
I for one am pleased that England did not "make the grade" if making the grade consists of such targets as banning adverts for anything that might vaguely distract people from the football and changing the law to allow FIFA to employ slave-labour (<minimum wage workers) and almost certainly bribery.
The BBC did the right thing with their exposé.
why not support a local club of amateurs then these bunch of overpaid prima donnas.
Kudos to the BBC for Panorama ... thumbs down to the BBC for the over the top BBC News coverage of a bunch of football fanatics and their stupid drawn out voting practices .. almost as nauseating as the coverage for team draws.
gets "given" the worlds premier sporting event by the worlds most corrupt sporting organisation. All this proves is that Russia's brown envelope was bigger than anyone else's. Empty stadia in Russia in 8 years time then, if of course they actually get built.
Then Qatar...yeah right, don't bother going if your, female, gay, black, a child, like a drink, a practising christian, like to where shorts in public ( could prove a challenge to the players ) or enjoy football in the company of others. More empty stadia?
England should boycott both events by playing in the qualifiers like they did in South Africa
Hells yes it's in the public interest. What would be even more in the public interest is disbanding the whole damn pile of horse manure known as football and replacing it with something vaguely sensible, like fixing the economy. Failing that though anything which saves public money in hosting the event is great, perhaps we could also feign disgust and withdraw from the world cup altogether and save some more money.
I'm not a fan of the olympics either but at least it has a more grown up atmosphere, representing more sports and more countries to boot.
I think the fact that Mr Putin wasn't there and yet one of the worst potential winners still wins says more for the alledged corruption in FIFA than the BBC programme and, if anything, vindicates the program 100%.
Actually, done us a favour. We (the UK) already have the cost of the Olympics to fork out for especially since, given our climate, it's probably going to be a complete wash out, and during one of the worst financial climates at that. Great timing...
Could do without the future cost of hosting the world cup as well. Granted, we're probably okay stadium wise already but the costs would still have been huge.
And, speaking as a Welshman, even though I'd be paying for it as I am the Olympics, what the hell would anyone outside of England (let alone just London as is the case with all the Olympic money) get out it it...?
Canada, though jolly enormous, is not the worlds largest country - at least that's what the most of the references i've seen and (more importantly) the CIA reckon...
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html
..and even if the CIA are wrong, i'm not going to be the one to tell them :)
It is good that we don't have to pay to host the thing, don't have to put up with the disruption of it happening here, but it is also a shame that our businesses don't get the money in from the tourists, and that the money spent on the bid so far has been for nothing.
I also find it slightly funny that Cameron, "Wills", and Beckham bothered to show up and this is the outcome (I'm not a fan of any of them, especially the first two, so maybe I'm just being an arse on that point).
I also think the BBC have done the right thing. Even *if* it was their report that cost us the bid, turning a blind eye for the sake of not hurting the bid would have been the wrong thing to do. May they come out of the shit storm unscathed.
Russia and Qatar won because they were the best strategic bids. England's bid was naive at best. This will be good for Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Qatar is more liberal than some posters on here would have you believe. Qatar wants to be more like Dubai and develop a great tourism industry, and this will help them.
Why we English think we deserved it is beyond me. We do we have to offer? Unpredicatble summer weather, soccer violence and poo transport infrastructure. At least Russia and Qatar have oil billions to spend on new infrastructure.
Long term, this was the right choice by FIFA.
I am so happy that the Fifa world cup is not coming to England! We have too much football as it is! Since when has football been news? Also what is this obsession with BBC bashing? What about the Birmingham and Vanilla game last night? Don't you think they also ruined the reputation of England fans?
Also, I think FIFA want to try and get the world cup into other countries as well. You already have the Olympics. The only reason you are desperate for the world cup is because it's the only way you have a chance of winning! HAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Maybe, just maybe, it has nothing to do with Russia and Qatar being "the most corrupt countries on Earth" - a bullshit statement if ever I heard one. Maybe they realised we were already trying extraordinarily hard not to fuck up the Olympics, and they didn't want to risk it.
We don't have a right to the bloody World Cup, you know. I suppose the other times they didn't award it to us, that was all corruption and back-handers too, and when we do get it, it's because "football's coming home."
Fuck's sake, it's football. Who gives a shit anyway?
Firstly this is a tech news site, the World Cup bid has little relevance here.
Secondly, all the allegations of corruption are just that, allegations. No proof, and wasn't there a little incident with handbags that the UK ought to be ashamed of?
I just don't like the sour grapes tone of the article, as if the UK is some paragon of virtue while the other bids were rotten to the core. Too much fuss is made over football in other areas of the media I had hoped a tech site would be able to give me an unsensationalised view. Too much to ask it seems.
..permeates through all of this.
once again, they choose a country that is going to invest in a massive stadium building project
at vast expense...FIFA want to expand the presence of football and the legacy is a bunch
of crumbling unused stadiums.
the UK choice would have been sensible...it would have used existing infrastructure (heck, maybe even given a second good use for the new olympic stadium). tats not good enough
and if you watched the lunchtime media coverage you'd have seen Blatters awful speech in which he could be visibly seen lusting after gorgeous russian women. he's the Berlusconi of the gootballing world.
as it is, countries bow down to the unelected quango of FIFA.
modern football should see FIFA for what it is and get themselves out. the big leagues (seria A, Premeireship, Bundeliga etc) have all the money in the game...they should make a new governing organisation to look after the game and let FIFA die as it should have died back in 1970s
..and Russia? come on. the place needs VISAs go enter..need further permits to actually travel anywhere. travelling around Russia is basically gambling your life with each flight. its not really a good choice for happy family presence...and 2022 decision is even worse...come on. Oz would have been a fantastic choice
PS my choice would have been holland/belgium, with UK a second option
After reading the article you'd think that the main problem with Qatar's election is the state's interdiction to get trashed for cheap. Surely getting trashed for cheap is not the main point of the... oh, wait a minute. Forget I said anything.
If you want cheap booze no matter what, Qatar doesn't ban baker's yeast, sugar, or big airtight bottles *wink wink nudge nudge*.
I suspect HMG was secretly behind the Panorama programme. We didn't want the tournament but politically we had to be seen to be trying for it. Of course we didn't stand a chance anyway, but Panorama put the seal on it. Now everyone can blame the BBC, not HMG. Brilliant!
There was no reason why the programme had to be shown last Monday as it dealt with ten-year-old bribery allegations (not that anything has changed).
>Transport is (and always has been) an issue in Russia - though the world cup might help them
>justify improving this. Roads in Moscow are terrible, for example.
Ahem. Granted, it will probably (?) not snow in June, but looking at the state of the UK's transport infrastructure over the last few days, this comment is quite ironic :)
Football is the biggest game on the planet. It's a religion followed by millions and while it divides it also joins.
Religion on the other hand is purely divisive. Practised by millions and has killed many millions more.
Football, however corrupt, is infinitely less corrupt than most of the churches so i think i could stand a month long piss up while talking shite with all the others bar room experts, knowing that what i was watching is at least transparent and infinitely less likely to kill millions in the process.
We should celebrate football as the great bringer together.........and at a national level, gets us at least talking to each other and not trying to kill each other.......most of the time.
So, is it heads or tails?
Anyone notice how this outcome was predicted by Lord Triesman in his recorded comments (admittedly while trying to get his leg over) in May this year.
"Spain and Russia in a deal to bribe referees so that Spain would win the World Cup and Russia would win the bid for 2018."
Looks a bit prescient now doesn't it?
I don't live in the UK, so I don't feel the disappointment of losing the bid, Spain and Portugal deserved to win the World Cup bid... RUSSIA WON!!!!????
Obviously two other news story fill out the details of how this happened. Yet more allegations FIFA officials took brides and Wikileaks leaked documents describing Russia as a Mafia state.
If you don't believe this was a fix, consider the great footballing nation of Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup. Will that be a five-a-side game on the beech?
FIFA are a bad joke. Some one should put a stop to this stupidity.
<quote>
It's soccer.
There are probably hundreds of brands of football, of which soccer is but one.
</quote>
I take it you are from the more recently independent side of the Atlantic. Yes there are many sports called football, generally originating in different regions, that each have different rules, but no sport called soccer exists.
The term is nothing more than a familiar abbreviation of the sport, namely Association Football, in the same way that rugger, is a familiar abbreviation of Rugby Football, which itself has two distinct codes.
Calling this the Football World Cup is no more wrong or right than saying that the Denver Broncos play[1] in the National Football League, or that Collingwood won the 2010 Australian Football League. Three different sports, all correctly called football.
[1] I use the term loosely, 3 and 8 for the season so far isn't exactly playing.
It's obvious a lot of people on the selection committee didn't get much sleep, people banging on suite doors offering bags of money.
However, the British taxpayer should be celebrating. Just think of all those taxpayer pounds that will be put to far better use than lining the pockets of private enterprise.
Most hosts to the international sports circuses do not come out ahead on these expenditures, so the funds can be directed to some worthwhile project that will provide long lasting benefits.
The Blair Olympics are a complete waste of funds that could be put to better use.
I can understand Russia winning as they promised to build a legacy of new stadiums and transform parts of the country as part of their bid (which we didn't). I actually think they will be able to host a really great tournament and the mob will ensure that everything is built to schedule. The "leak" that the mob runs the country was only a surprise to a few people by the way, most eastern europeans already knew this.
What I cannot understand is Qatar. Just simply why? Temperatures can reach over 50 degrees Celcius at that time of year, and there quite simply is no real benefit to the population to build a bunch of stadiums. As someone said, how will a 40,000 seat stadium benefit a town of 10,000? Although to be honest I see the lack of alcohol as a good thing.
FIFA themselves branded it the highest risk level of any of the bids, yet spectacularly make a u-turn upon voting. Maybe I'm missing something, but it looks suspiciously like a few people got paid off for their votes.
I am so glad we lost the bid. I am already sick of the 2012 olympics and that's years away. What with the dumbing down of TV, Simon Cowell, Jordan, Wayne Rooney and all the other pointless celebrities this nations couch potato culture is reaching new lows every day. I certainly don't want the next few years media to be even more loaded with football.
There are some truly amazing and wonderful people out there doing fantastic things, Aung san suu kyi for one, an inspiration to a whole nation who I deeply admire. David Attenborough, a wonderful man whose programs, albeit not that in depth, promote understanding and compassion for nature and in a 100 years time they could still be watched and be valuable documentation of the natural world. Wangari Muta Maathai another amazing person, never heard of her? Look her up she has done wonderful things and got a nobel prize for it. There are so many people in the world who are fantastic role models... yet we have half whits and self serving morons on the front pages of the the glossies and red tops.
So yep, I am truly happy we didn't get to host the world cup, perhaps we could host the nobel prize awards, now that I would back whole heartedly. Perhaps that would inspire our children to do something that actually could make a difference rather than just make money and get them chased by the paps.
Oh and don't get me wrong, I love football, playing it that is, but I'd rather watch paint dry, http://www.polymercentre.org.uk/features/emulsion.php if you are interested.
"David Attenborough, a wonderful man whose programs, albeit not that in depth, promote understanding and compassion for nature and in a 100 years time they could still be watched and be valuable documentation of the natural world."
I agree with this comment about David Attenborough's nature documentaries. One small problem, however: in 100 years time, most of the animals and plants featured in these programs will be extinct or on the endangered list.
Badgers because there won't be any of them either!
By 2018 or 2022 all the good players will not be playing in the WC.
Top Clubs pay their players tens of millions of pounds a year and do not want them getting injured on international duty - especially when they dont see much of the revenue generated once in a blue moon by the WC.
When the big European superleague break away happens it will be out of the control of FIFA / UEFA and run directly by the big clubs and media companies.
Sad for football - but good that it gets rid of Blatter and co. (Only to be replaced by someone else similar but probably more focused on $$ rather than sucking off putin).
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