Boston College’s Chelsea Regan, right, pulls on Stanford’s Christen Press of Palos Verdes Estates tonight during the semifinals of the NCAA Women’s College Cup (AP Photo).
Stanford & Press through to NCAA final
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Monthly Archives: December 2010
World Cup losers call for bidding overhaul
Paper tigers: The “evil” British media weigh in on the World Cup bidding process in their signature sensationalistic style (AP Photos).
Is hosting a World Cup about creating piles of cash for FIFA or all about the good of the sport?
Don’t answer that.
Is it time to overhaul the bidding process?
The losers think so – on both sides of the Atlantic, according to this Associated Press story:
NEW YORK (AP) — The American member of FIFA’s executive committee says politics came into play in the votes to have Russia and Qatar host the World Cup and that soccer’s governing body must reconsider how it decides future tournament sites.
Chuck Blazer said that because FIFA is unlikely to choose the 2026 host for eight years, it should consider changes well before it’s time to vote again.
A supporter of the failed U.S. bid for 2022, Blazer said he thinks the North and Central
American and Caribbean confederation was the biggest loser in the decision to end FIFA’s policy of rotating World Cup hosts among the continents.“The shame of all of it is under the rotation system, clearly ’18 would have been ours, and we gave way to lifting that system in order to provide Europe with a good opportunity and FIFA to have another European World Cup in between,” he said Friday from Zurich in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
FIFA adopted a continental rotation system in August 2000, three weeks after Germany defeated South Africa 12-11 in the vote for 2006 World Cup host. It was scrapped in October 2007 over CONCACAF’s objection, a day before Brazil was unanimously elected the 2014 host — it was the only bidder.
CONCACAF has not hosted a World Cup since the 1994 tournament in the United States.
“I’ve got to think in the end that having moved away from what had been agreed to as the rotation, that we ended up with the short end of that stick as a confederation,” said Blazer, the No. 2 official in CONCACAF.
With eight of the 24 executive committee votes, Europe wound up as the only continent
competing for 2018 as others did the math months in advance and withdrew. Russia won Thursday’s balloting over England, Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium.England received just two votes and was knocked out on the first round.
“I think they had a great bid. They certainly have great facilities. But for me, going into
the day, it was clear to me they didn’t have the votes to win,” Blazer said.Qatar won 2022, beating the United States 14-8 in the final round after Australia, Japan and South Korea were eliminated.
Blazer, while saying Qatar won the vote fairly, said he thinks jockeying for support to
succeed the 74-year-old Blatter, who replaced Joao Havelange as president in 1998, was a factor. Blatter is running for a fourth term and has said he is braced for a candidate from Asia to challenge him in the vote at the FIFA Congress, May 31-June 1.Qatar’s Mohamed Bin Hammam is president of the Asian Football Confederation, which would have nearly half the votes needed to elect a president if it votes as a bloc.
“I don’t think these are decisions anymore made purely on what’s the best place to host it or who’s best capable of doing the best job,” Blazer said. “If you consider that there are potential candidates that are looking to align support, Asia is certainly a major piece of the puzzle as we are going forward.”
The entire FIFA Congress often picked World Cup hosts — many times there was one viable candidate — through 1966, when the venues for 1974, 1978 and 1982 were decided. Voting then switched to the smaller executive committee, which in its first contested election selected Mexico in 1983 for the 1986 tournament as the replacement for Colombia, which withdrew.
Blazer, above, thinks the system should be re-examined.
“In the beginning of this process, I thought the executive committee was the right body to
make the decision because … FIFA depends on the World Cup for all of its revenues,” he said. “But in the end, because of the combination of decisions which are taken sometimes on the basis of political and other considerations, I think we may have to look at a different way of doing things in the future.”Members of England’s failed bid agreed.
England and the United States were considered the best prospects for technically successful and profitable tournaments, yet those evaluations appeared to matter little in the voting. FIFA instead opted for the grand design projects of Russia and Qatar, sending the World Cup to Eastern Europe and the Middle East for the first time.
This follows this year’s World Cup in South Africa, the first to be held on the African
continent.“It’s quite hard to stomach that (high technical marks) seems to count for absolutely
nothing,” Andy Anson, the England 2018 chief executive, said at a briefing Friday. “I would say right now, don’t bother (bidding) until you know that the process is going to change to allow bids like ours to win.”Anson also called on FIFA to introduce broader and more transparent decision-making, which currently involves up to 24 executive committee members voting in a secret ballot.
Aggressive scrutiny by the British media was a factor at the end of bid campaigns after two FIFA voters were barred following an investigation into alleged bribe-taking and
vote-rigging.Anson claimed that minutes before the vote began, FIFA president Sepp Blatter reminded his executive colleagues of the “evil of the media.”
The England official said the comment was “unhelpful,” and other voters gave it as a reason for deserting the bid, which gained only two votes. One was from Geoff Thompson, its own executive committee representative.
Anson, a former Manchester United executive who has signed global commercial contracts, said he felt let down.
“It’s hard not to when people promise you something and don’t deliver,” he said. “I’ve sold a lot of things to a lot of people, and when people shake your hand you’ve usually got a deal.”
Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s culture secretary, branded FIFA’s rejection of England a “slap in the face” and also questioned the world governing body’s voting methods.
“If the strategy is to take the game to new parts of the world, what is the point of a
technical evaluation at all?” Hunt, who was part of England’s delegation in Zurich, wrote on his blog.How the bidding process should be changed, however, Blazer doesn’t know. But he said it should be done soon, before countries and confederations begin jockeying for the 2026 World Cup.
The U.S. has not said whether it will bid for 2026 or not.
“We have eight years until the next time we need to do this again,” Blazer said. “I think it’s best for us to be doing it where the people who are going to make the recommendations can detach themselves. … The earlier we do it in the cycle so that we can be not identifying ourselves as the then-voters, I think the better.”
Qatar’s World Cup challenge
They’re partying in Qatar after winning the 2022 World Cup bid. The rest of the world? Not so much (AP Photos).
Would you go visit a country to watch soccer that has wilting heat (even if the proposed futuristic soccer stadiums are supposedly air-conditioned), severe limitations on drinking (presumably expensive) cold alcoholic beverages and worries over women showing a little too much skin should they (gasp) choose to wear shorts?
And pay steeply for the privilege. Nah, me neither.
Bet you Brazil will be even more popular than previously believed in four years time as soccer tourists believe that’s the World Cup to attend rather than the Middle East or Russia.
Here’s more on the issue from the Associated Press and I’ll have more Tuesday in my weekly column:
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatar won over FIFA with a promise that a World Cup in the Middle East would be good for soccer.
Now it faces what could be an even harder task: Convincing skeptical fans who fear the desert nation will hold a sweltering and alcohol-free tournament.
Some fans wrongly believe Qatar has the same social restrictions of Saudi Arabia or the
violence that plagues Afghanistan and Iraq.Twitter was abuzz with such concerns immediately after Qatar was awarded the 2022 tournament on Thursday. Some fans suggested Qatar would keep women out of stadiums and many fretted they won’t be able to buy a beer.
They might be surprised to find a largely safe, cosmopolitan capital where celebrity British chef Gordon Ramsay has set up shop, malls are filled with designer goods and the skyline rivals any in the United States. Women are free to work, drive and cheer on their favorite soccer team, as they did during last month’s Brazil-Argentina exhibition. Drinking is allowed, but mostly restricted to ex-pat havens.
Still, this country of 1.6 million is no Paris or Rio or even neighboring Dubai — and Qataris seem to want to keep it that way. Drinking and dancing is limited to the handful of raucous bars and nightclubs in four- and five-star hotels, public affection is usually tolerated but occasionally punished. Bikini-clad swimmers only began appearing on beaches two years ago.
Most understand, though, that the country will have to open up with the World Cup coming and find a balance between the modern and traditional. Organizers have already promised to allow drinking in designated fan zones and Qataris have resigned themselves to the sight of scantily-clad foreigners strolling through their streets — something that is frowned upon.
“I never wanted the World Cup in the first place because of the girls and the drinking. It’s
against our religion,” said Mohammed al-Sayegh, a 16-year-old Qatari dressed in full-length white thobe worn by most men.
But like many of his friends shopping at the Villagio Shopping Center — complete with an ice skating rink and canal network with gondolas — al-Sayegh supports the bid as a way to boost the country’s standing on the international stage.
“We want to take the World Cup, but we can’t take everything,” he said. “We can show the world that we can preserve our culture even if we host such a big event.”
Another Qatari shopper in the mall, 21-year-old Hassan al-Emadi, said he was willing to take the “good with the bad” that would come with the World Cup.
“The good will be that other countries know Qatar is a peaceful place and has the capacity to host big events,” he said. “The bad is the drinking in the streets. By 2022, there will be a new generation and when they see people acting like this, they will think this is the Qatar. It will be a challenge to keep our traditions.”
Most expatriates in Doha felt the tournament would be a success, but that some things would have to change — at least for those four weeks during the tournament.
“If you can’t drink beer, there is no World Cup,” said Bono Van Wyk, a South African who has lived in Qatar for three years and works for an oil company. “They will have to lift all the restrictions. People want to drink where they want to drink.”
Out at a makeshift beach on the outskirts of Doha, two fully clothed Muslim women waded into the water at a public beach, while several women in bikinis lounged on chairs at a private beach at the nearby Intercontinental hotel.
“I don’t have any difficulties at all. It’s very safe and secure,” said Lara Koujou, a
Lebanese national. “You have to respect the traditions and culture but you can go to the beach or the clubs. Of course, this is not Europe or America. I can wear a short dress at a club but not on the street. That isn’t the norm here.”Most agree the challenge will be about changing perceptions of this Gulf country. It first
came to the attention of Westerners as one of the Pentagon’s Gulf partners during the U.S.-led battles to drive Iraq from Kuwait in 1991 and later hosting the U.S. military’s command center for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It still hosts U.S. warplanes.As recently as the 1990s, Qatar was a sleepy, port city that over the past quarter-century has transformed itself into one of the world’s richest nations thanks to the discovery of vast oil and gas reserves. It’s also a media hub for the Arab world as the home of the Al-Jazeera network, which is backed by Qatar’s ruling family. It has become one of the hot spots in the Gulf for sporting events, including a European Tour golf tournament, men’s and women’s professional tennis tournaments, the 2006 Asian Games and upcoming 2011 Asian Cup.
Ruled by the Al Thani family without any opposition, there is no doubt that Qatar will make good on its commitment to spend $42.9 billion on infrastructure upgrades and $4 billion to build nine stadiums and renovate three others. All those stadiums, Qatar says, will have a state-of-the art cooling system that will keep temperatures about 81 degrees. Similar cooling systems will be used at training sites and fan zones.
Qatar has to address not only questions of its openness but also about its location in the volatile Middle East. Like most Arab nations, it has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
Bid chief executive Hassan al-Thawadi promised Israel would be allowed to participate if it qualifies and earlier said fans from all nations would be welcome.
“We are a very, very hospitable place that welcomes people from all parts of the world,” he said. “Bringing the World Cup to the Middle East now … will feature to the world that the Middle East is home to a lot of people, it’s opening its arms to the rest of the world.”
Al-Thani also said the country was making strides in promoting women’s sports, noting how it soon would be starting one of the first women’s soccer leagues in the Gulf.
“This is another perception, another perception that women are oppressed in the Middle East and this is a wrong, wrong perception,” he said. “We hope with the World Cup being awarded to Qatar, we can change that.”
Check out some of Qatar’s proposed stadiums here:
MLS announces Re-entry draft list – two players each from Galaxy, Chivas USA available
I have no idea how big a deal this is and I get the impression MLS doesn’t either.
I’m sure it was essentially a sop to the players under the new labor agreement.
For what it’s worth, Jovan Kirovski and Dema Kovalenko for the Galaxy are involved and Marcelo Saragosa and Alex Zotinca (hands up all those who even knew he was on the club’s roster) for Chivas USA.
The draft will take place in two stages at 11 a.m. Wednesday and a week later at the same time Dec. 15. Both are conducted in the same order as the waiver draft, with Vancouver selecting 17th and Portland selecting 18th.
Here’s more on the process from the MLS press release:
Any player selected in Stage 1 will remain on the drafting Club’s 2011 budget at the option price or Bona Fide Offer price until April 1st, 2011. Clubs and players may not mutually renegotiate that price to a lower number until April 1st, 2011.
Clubs may not select their own players in Stage 1. Players will have the opportunity to negotiate contracts and sign with their previous clubs after Stage 1 is complete, through 2 p.m. ET on December 13th.
In Stage 2, clubs may select from players that are under contract and those not under contract. If a player is not under contract, the drafting club will be required to make a genuine offer to the player within seven days. In the event that an agreement cannot be reached between the drafting club and an out-of-contract player, the drafting club will hold the right of first refusal for that player in MLS. Clubs may select their own players in Stage 2 only after all other clubs have declined to select those players.
If a player is not selected in either stage of the Re-Entry Process, that player will be available on a first come first serve basis to all clubs.
Got that?
Here’s a list of the available players.
Is this an opportunity for Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena to pick up more veterans? Or for a club like Chivas USA with a weak roster to instantly upgrade?
What do you think?
Friday Kicks: Palos Verdes Estates’ Press presses claim for national title, USWNT callup (& more)
*The nation’s leading scorer, South Bay native Christen Press, leads Stanford against Boston College (3:30 p.m. ESPNU), while the other NCAA semifinal, Ohio State-Notre Dame, precedes the game at 1 p.m. on ESPN2. The final is 9 a.m. Sunday on ESPN2.
More on the goal scoring exploits of Press from our sister newspaper the San Jose Mercury News is here.
*Meanwhile, the UCLA men’s team is preparing to face top-ranked and undefeated Louisville Saturday in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in a game the Bruins weren’t wasn’t expected to play in anyway in a supposed rebuilding year
*The Galaxy announced today that retired midfielder Chris Klein, 34, has been named the club’s senior director of its Academy Program and Special Projects.
The 12-year MLS veteran “will be responsible for overseeing the long-term financial and technical plan for the Academy, while building a strong presence in the local soccer community. Klein will also be in charge of developing and improving the Academy’s training facilities and programs, coaching staff and recruitment program,” the club said.
It’s an excellent move by the Galaxy, holding onto a classy player and person who sets an example for young players with his work rate and total professionalism.
“I am thankful and honored to be able to remain with the Galaxy and AEG in this new and exciting role,” Klein said. “With the league making great strides in the field of youth development, we all feel that it is essential to have a structure in place to help grow our Academy, not just in the present, but into the future as well. The long term strength of our club will be predicated by the success of our Academy and I am grateful to be able to be a part of that and to be able to help shape the future of this great club.”
*Lastly, plenty of big games this weekend including a U.S. Men’s Under-17 game at 4 p.m. today on Fox Soccer Channel against Brazil (there’s another at 4 p.m. Sunday against Turkey on FSC) and a Saturday morning lineup of Chelsea-Everton (6:55 a.m. ESPN2), Arsenal-Fulham (7 a.m. FSC) and Blackpool-Manchester United (9:30 a.m. FSC).
Click to top right for the complete, exhaustive, detailed, definitive roundup of all the weekend’s games I’m way too lazy to list.
Russia to host 2018 World Cup and Qatar wins 2022 bid
World Cup winners (sort of): Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar, holds the World Cup trophy aloft after today’s announcement that Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup, beating out four other nations including the U.S. (AP Photos).
England lost out to the ruble-packing Russians.
And the petro-dollar fueled Middle Eastern nation of Qatar beat out the U.S. for the 2022 World Cup.
Hmmm, see a common thread here?
More later.
Here’s more from the Associated Press:
ZURICH (AP) — Qatar was selected as host of the 2022 World Cup, beating out a bid by the United States to bring soccer’s showcase back to America for the first time since 1994.
FIFA’s executive committee choose Qatar — a nation smaller than Connecticut, which has promised to overcome 130-degree heat with air conditioned stadiums — over the U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea in a secret vote Thursday.
Minutes earlier, Russia was announced as host of the 2018 tournament. It was chosen over England and joint bids by Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium.
“We go to new lands,” FIFA president Sepp Blatter said.
From World Cup princes to paupers: Even the star power of the Galaxy’s David Beckham and the center forward from Buckingham Palace FC, Prince William, couldn’t save the English bid.
Following corruption allegations that led to two of 24 FIFA executive committee members being excluded from the vote, the decision to go to the Middle East in 2022 was bound to be controversial even before it was made. It also will cause American sports executives to question what they have do to host another international event.
Qatar promised to spend $50 billion on infrastructure upgrades and $4 billion to build
nine stadiums and renovate three others. One advantage of the having the tournament in a small country: The stadiums will all be within an hour of each other.“Basically, oil and natural gas won today. This was not about merit, this was about money,” former U.S. national team star Eric Wynalda said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Qatar “is a country that is really going to struggle to host this event. A successful World Cup would mean the attendance would be twice the population.”
Qataris and others — including workers from south Asia — immediately started dancing in the streets along Doha’s Gulf waterfront. Some blew the vuvuzelas that became synonymous with the World Cup in South Africa.
FIFA’s inspection report highlighted a danger posted by heat — the average high in late June is 106 degrees. Qatar said the World Cup thrived despite heat during tournaments in Mexico in 1970 and 1986, and the U.S. in 1994.
Qatar, with a population smaller than that of Houston, used its 30-minute presentation to
underline how the tournament could unify a region ravaged by conflict. Presenters also
promised to dismantle the stadiums built for the tournament and give them to needy
nations.“On behalf of millions of people living in the Middle East, thank you,” Qatar bid chair Sheikh Mohammad bin Hamad Al-Thani said. “Thank you for believing in us, thank you for having such bold vision. … Thank you also for acknowledging this is the right time for the Middle East. We have a date with history which is summer 2022.”
It was the second international loss in the year for the U.S., which was led by former
President Bill Clinton during its final presentation Wednesday. Last year, the nternational Olympic Committee chose Rio de Janeiro over Chicago and others for the 2016 Olympics despite a personal lobbying effort by President Barack Obama.
Born slippy: A metaphor for the ill-fated U.S. and England World Cup bids sits outside the FIFA HQ in snowy Zurich.
Brazil was selected as the 2014 host in October 2007, and FIFA began accepting bids for the following two tournaments in early 2009.
The World Cup was played in the United States for the first time in 1994, setting a record with 3.58 million tickets sold, and the U.S. Soccer Federation had hoped a second World Cup in America would boost soccer’s slow but steady growth and give a big lift to Major League Soccer.
Now the U.S. will have to wait until at least 2026, when it may have to compete with bids from Europe, soccer’s financial base.
By selecting Qatar, FIFA precluded a 2026 bid from China, since the same continent cannot host consecutive World Cups.
The 2018 vote was especially crushing for England, the motherland of soccer, which has not hosted the World Cup since winning it for the only time in 1966.
“You will never regret” the decision, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said. “Let us make history together.”
Anguish in LA: Soccer fans at the ESPN Zone at LA Live downtown react to the news the World Cup won’t be coming to the U.S. for at least 16 years (AFP/Getty Images).
Another MLS stadium in LA & more
Another MLS stadium in LA? The Coliseum Commission has proposed demolishing the aging and underused LA Sports Arena and building a 22,000-seat soccer stadium on the site suitable for an MLS team.
More details on the proposal, one of two options outlined in the environmental analysis is here.
Note that any talk of Chivas USA moving to the stadium from Home Depot Center is way premature. It’s no secret the club, a tenant at the AEG-owned HDC, wants a stadium so it can control its own revenue streams including tickets, concessions and parking, a tactic that is the proven strategy for turning a profit. Quite how exchanging one landlord for another would do that is unclear. But at least it provides another option and perhaps bargaining chip.
Moreover, the analysis never mentions Chivas USA (that I could find in the 300-plus page document), although it does mention MLS (but not the WPS).
I’m awaiting comment from Chivas USA.
Updated
As expected a club spokesman had no comment on the “rumors and speculation” this afternoon, noting the club has “been down this road before.”
That’s a reference to a flurry of stories this summer in conjunction with Chivas USA’s game in San Diego with the mothership when a comment from a Chivas USA spokesman was misinterpreted to mean the club was looking at building a stadium in the city.
Meanwhile, rumors abound on the status of AEG purchasing part of the San Diego Chargers, a possible tenant for its proposed downtown stadium and a potential World Cup venue, of course.
Speaking of the World Cup, a reminder the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts will be named at 6:30 a.m. Thursday with viewing parties being hosted locally by the Galaxy and Chivas USA (from the club press release):
Chivas USA will be hosting a viewing party for the announcement of the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups on Thursday, December 2, at 6:30 a.m. PT at Hennessey’s Tavern in Manhattan Beach, 313 Manhattan Beach Blvd. Complimentary coffee and tea will be served with breakfast specials available for purchase as well. There will be prize giveaways and the ChivaFighter and ChivaGirls will also be present to sign autographs.
ESPN will be airing the announcement live on SportsCenter at 7:00 a.m. PT on Thursday, while Fox Soccer Channel, Univision, and CNN will have coverage of the event throughout the day. U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati, MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Landon Donovan and Former U.S. President Bill Clinton are in Zurich, serving as spokesmen for the U.S. Bid.
The U.S. is up against Qatar, South Korea, Japan and Australia for the opportunity to host in 2022.
Check out previous posts below for much more on the World Cup bid.