Donovan Arrives in Zurich for Last Push for USA Bid

Landon Donovan arrived in Zurich, Switzerland today to help spearhead the finishing touches to his nation’s bid to host the World Cup in 2022. He flew in from the LA Galaxy’s tour of Australia, ironically one of the USA’s main competitors for the bid.

The rest of the committee heading the United States bid to host the World Cup in 2022 started arriving in Zurich over the weekend. They are putting the finishing touches to their presentations. Rehearsals with different members of the bid committee started as early as Sunday.

Sunil Gulati, President of the United States Soccer Federation said about Thursday’s vote:

“It is an important date in U.S. soccer history. Thursday’s announcement will mark the conclusion of many months of effort. Our presentation to the FIFA Executive Committee on Wednesday will reflect the hard work of our government at every level, our 18 candidate host cities, as well as city officials, sports commissions, stadiums, hotels, training sites, the bid’s Board of Directors and staff members and above all the fans of the game who made a distinctive difference in our bid.”

Numerous members of the USA Bid Committee board of directors are expected to be in Zurich this week to support the presentation team, including:

Douglas Band, Counselor to President Bill Clinton
Carlos Cordeiro, Vice Chairman of the USA Bid Committee
Dan Flynn, U.S. Soccer Federation CEO/Secretary General
Don Garber, Major League Soccer Commissioner
Mia Hamm, Former U.S. Women’s National Team Forward and Two-Time FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion
Tim Leiweke, President and CEO of AEG
Casey Wasserman, Chairman and CEO of Wasserman Media Group

Candidates fir 2022 will present their bids on Wednesday 1st with the USA due to present at 8am Pacific Time after Australia, South Korea and Qatar, but just before Japan.

Voting Procedure:

The 2018 vote will take place first, then the 2022 one. The vote will be by secret ballot and all eligible members of the FIFA Executive Committee can vote in both ballots.

To win the right to host the competition, a bidder must obtain an absolute majority (50% + 1) of the votes of the FIFA Executive Committee members present. If no-one gets a majority, the country with the least votes is eliminated until someone does or there are only two nations left.

If there is a tie for the lowest number of votes in any round, an intermediate voting round will be conducted to determine which of the tied bidders does not progress.

In the event of a tie when only two bidders remain, the FIFA President Sepp Blatter will have the casting vote.

When the final decision on the host has been taken, the result will be put in two envelopes and taken by the notary to the “Messe Zurich”, where they will be handed over to the FIFA President for the announcements.

[ad#Recent Articles]