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The Messe Zurich Convention Centre Just Before the Annoucement
Votes are being cast and the cell phones of voters collected to prevent leaks although there are reports that the head of Qatar’s bid has told Al Jazeera “Congratulations Qatar. We have won.”
There are reports from FSC that the announcement has been delayed though no reason has been given. However SKY Sports in London says that this is because the 2018 vote has gone to a 3rd Round.
Al Jazeera reports Australia were eliminated in the 1st round, Korea in the 2nd and Japan out in 3rd, leaving the USA and Qatar.
Grant Wahl is reporting that Qatari delegation members are getting handshakes & some hugs from FIFA voters in Zurich. Delegates have now been asked to proceed to the auditorium.
Japan, Korea, Qatar and Australia are the USA’s rivals for 2022. All the remaining applicants for 2018 are European nations with joint bids from Spain/Portugal, Holland/Belgium rivaling England and Russia.
Landon Donovan said:
“I’m pretty Zen about it, because at this point we’ve done what we can do. Maybe even with the presentation, people had their mind made up. Who knows?
Sepp Blatter
So you hope that maybe there are few people that are unconvinced, and you convinced them or swayed them one way, but people are going to vote the way they are going to vote and we did our best. I think our presentation was great and we’ll see what happens.”
FIFA have now said they will release voting numbers for each round, contrary to a previous policy. If no nation reaches 50% +1 of the votes, the nation with the least votes drops out and the delegates vote again.
The results are put in two envelopes and taken to Zurich Exhibition Centre, where FIFA President Sepp Blatter will announce the winners.
In the event of a tie on the last round, he has the casting vote.
Bill Clinton Addresses FIFA Delegates on Behalf of the USA Bid
FIFA/Foto-Net
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2 Comments
I agree with commentators who say that the loss of the world cup to the US reflects our diminished standing in the world. I wonder, what percentage of Tea Partiers every touched a soccer ball?
Tea party types had less to do with the failure of the US bid than did the lack of funds available to grease the skids of FIFA’s slimy machine.