In observance of Memorial Day.

But here’s three links to chew on for Tuesday:

*Here’s more on the status of the Whitecaps ahead of Vancouver’s game Wednesday night against Chivas USA in Carson.

*New disclosures today on the scandal enveloping CONCACAF head Jack Warner.

*Former Chivas USA defender Claudio Suarez claims Mexican soccer is 100 years ahead of the U.S., which probably says more about the state of the game there than here.

Moore football: London’s Wembley Stadium stands ready for Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final dream match-up between Barcelona and Manchester United. That’s a statue of late England captain Bobby Moore in front of the stadium in case you were wondering (AFP Photo).

The greater LA area tends to empty out on long summer weekends, which is why the Galaxy and Chivas USA avoid scheduling home MLS games in Carson.

That will allow Southern California soccer fans to give their (almost) undivided attention to the highly-anticipated meeting Saturday of two of the most storied names in soccer, Manchester United and Barcelona, in the richest UEFA Champions League final ever.

Coverage begins at 5 p.m. today with a preview show, cranks up again at 10 a.m. on Los Angeles-based Fox Soccer Channel and switches to Fox at 11 a.m. with the kickoff itself about 11:30 a.m. (it’s also live on Fox Deportes). The network is expecting a much larger audience over last year’s game, the first time it was shown on network television in the U.S.

“This is a dream final for a lot of people, myself included,” said Eric Wynalda, Fox soccer analyst. “When this competition started this year, and we saw the caliber of the teams, I think this is the kind of final we not only expected, but demanded as fans. The reality is that we have two teams that have won their respective leagues, are playing great football, and are both mentally and physically prepared for this game. This is a rarity, and it’s fantastic.”

There’s plenty of football friendly watering holes fans can gather to watch the game in Southern California.

Barcelona fans will congregate in Hollywood as usual, while Manchester United fans will meet a short distance away at this Hollywood location.

Both sets of fans will attend Galaxy-sponsored viewing parties of the game at Alpine Village near Torrance and at ESPN Zone at LA Live downtown.

I’ll post a game preview later today.

In other games this weekend:

*Mexico play Ecuador in Seattle at 1 p.m. Saturday on Univision.

*Chivas USA visit the Columbus Crew at 4:30 p.m. Saturday live on Prime

*The Galaxy take on the New England Revolution at 5 p.m. Saturday on Fox Sports West and Galavision.

Finally, FIFA continued to scrape bottom with word today that soccer’s governing body will now pursue an ethics investigation of its own president, Sepp Blatter (y’know, the guy who pledged to root out corruption in the game). Here’s how FIFA played down reported that news today.

The 6-2-5 Galaxy, who have played more games than any other team in MLS, continue their break-neck pace with their third Wednesday game – but first at home – of the season tonight against the Houston Dynamo (3-3-5) at Home Depot Center (7:30 p.m. live on Prime).

The Dynamo are winless in their last four games and have yet to win on their travels so far this season, while the David Beckham-less Galaxy have not lost in their last four games.

Here’s more from a Houston perspective.

*In other soccer news:

*Chivas USA will apparently play Colombia June 15 in Tijuana, according to one media report.

*The FIFA ethics inquiry involving CONCACAF chief Jack Warner is about to get under way.

*As if to underline the lack of productivity from the man who replaced him on the Galaxy front line – Juan Pablo Angel – who failed to make the boxscore yet again against his old club on the weekend in Carson, former Galaxy striker Edson Buddle demonstrated in both words and deeds how well he is settling in at his German club, contributing a spectacular solo goal Sunday:

*Galaxy officials told me this weekend that the club will soon announce another high-profile friendly opponent in the World Football Challenge, which today added Club America and CD Guadalajara to the mix. Since every team (or at least the foreign ones) plays three games apiece in the series given the schedule I’ll leave you to speculate whether the likes of Manchester City will visit or whether it will be a different club.

*Torrance’s Shannon Boxx, Lake Forest’s Amy Rodriguez and Diamond Bar’s Alex Morgan are the three Los Angeles-area players named today to the U.S. Women’s National Team World Cup squad.

It’s the third World Cup for Boxx, a South High product, who is now the second-most experienced player on the roster (behind striker Abby Wambach who has a home in Hermosa Beach). It’s the first World Cup for Morgan (who had a goal and an assist over the weekend as two-goal former Sol striker Marta and Western New York Flash beat Sky Blue FC 3-1 in WPS action) and A-Rod, although Rodriguez was part of the 2008 Olympic gold medal-winning team.

*Last year’s Hermann Trophy winner Christen Press of Palos Verdes Estates scored her first-ever goal as a pro Sunday with the second for the strangely-named magicJack in a 2-0 win over the Atlanta Beat. The Florida franchise is now 3-0 in WPS play just behind the similarly undefeated Flash.

*While Real Salt Lake comes to grips with the loss of star player Javier Morales in the wake of the club’s victory Saturday over Chivas USA their players are calling for a lengthy suspension for the latest player – Marcos Mondaini – to cause an opponent a season-ending (and potentially career-threatening) injury in MLS in the last couple of weeks.

*The Chivas USA reserves play their Seattle Sounders counterparts at 7 o’clock tonight in Seattle.

*Finally, Landon Donovan is the new spokesman for Upper Deck, which has just released its latest set of MLS cards.

*And more than that, Coach Robin Fraser confirms the club has at least had preliminary discusions with his reps.

*FIFA has appointed a panel that will recommend “ways to improve soccer” before the 2014 World Cup. I’m guessing the “pet project” of FIFA president Sepp Blatter won’t recommend getting rid of the corrupt fogey.

Among the members of the 22-member Task Force Football 2014: Pele, Bobby Charlton, Cafu and Christian Karembeu.

“This vastly experienced team will address every facet of the game, tackling any challenges related to the game and coming up with appropriate solutions,” Blatter said Thursday in a statement.

*Now this is potentially scary: the USWNT plays Mexico just before leaving for the World Cup; let’s hope they don’t lose again:

CHICAGO (AP) — The U.S. women’s soccer team will play Mexico in a June 5 exhibition at Red Bull Arena, its final game before the team leaves for the Women’s World Cup in Germany.

The game will be the first against Mexico since El Tri upset the Americans in World Cup
qualifying last November, forcing the two-time World Cup champions into a playoff against Italy for a spot in this summer’s tournament. The U.S. has a 49-game unbeaten streak at home, its last loss coming Nov. 6, 2004, against Denmark in Philadelphia.

“There’s nothing better than having a World Cup send-off game at an amazing venue against a very good opponent in front of a great crowd,” U.S. captain Christie Rampone said. “It will be an emotional game and a great test for us before we head over to Europe to begin our final preparations.”

Kristine Lilly, whose 352 appearances is an international record, will be honored before the game. Lilly, who retired in January, is the only player to play in all five Women’s World Cups. She also played on three Olympic teams, winning gold medals in 1996 and 2004.

The United States will leave for training camp in Austria after the game. The Americans begin group play June 28 against North Korea in Dresden, followed by a July 2 game against Colombia in Sinsheim. The Americans close out Group C against Sweden on July 6.

*How many players will 0-1 Chivas USA be without for Saturday’s game against the Colorado Rapids at Home Depot Center and the following Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup game against the Timbers in Portland because of the full slate of internationals? Four.

Starting striker Alejandro Moreno is with Venezuela for its game against Jamaica; starting defender Zarek Valentin is with the U.S. Under-20 team; defender Michael Umaa will be with Costa Rica for matches against China, Argentina and Mexico; and Andrew Boyens will join New Zealand for its match against China.

Incidentally, this has to be frustrating for the likes of Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser who is trying to build a foundation and that’s never easy when pieces temporarily go missing.

Here’s what MLS Commish Don Garber said on the subject Sunday in Carson when asked about so many of the league’s best players being absent in just the league’s second week of play:

“I’d like to get to the point where we take off for evey FIFA date,” he said. “We just can’t do it and continue to have the number of games teams want to play.

“It’s frustrating, particularly when we had such a great opening weekend, that you might be missing some players. (But) we’re going to take off more this year than any non-World Cup year.”

Also on international duty: Chivas USA U-18 goalkeeper Diego Chacon who is at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship with Guatemala.

*Early and undefeated MLS leaders the Galaxy are on the road Saturday taking on Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium in a stadium that will be televised delayed at 10:30 p.m. on Prime. Their absentee: Landon Donovan, who will play for the U.S. against Argentina at 4 p.m. Saturday in New York. More than 59,000 tickets have been sold for the game, U.S. Soccer announced today.

Also missing will be newly-signed striker Adam Cristman who was placed on the disabled list Thursday the club belatedly disclosed after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He isn’t eligible to return until April 17.

*Juninho’s cracker against Seattle is up for MLS Goal of the Week.

*Lastly, ESPN and ESPN2 will broadcast live all 32 matches at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany, the network announced today.

Associated Press Sports Writer Graham Dunbar has the details:

ZURICH (AP) — CONCACAF, soccer’s regional governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, failed in its attempt to gain an additional berth for the 2014 World Cup.

FIFA’s executive committee decided Thursday that all six continental confederations will have the same number of qualifying spots for the 2014 tournament in Brazil as they did for last year’s World Cup in South Africa. But it did change the playoff system for the final berths in the 32-nation field to a draw rather than fixed pairings.

CONCACAF will still have three automatic berths and the chance to win a fourth in a playoff. Europe kept its 13 qualifying spots and Africa its five, although it does lose the host spot it had last year. South America will have four qualifying berths, the chance to win a fifth in a playoff plus Brazil as the host.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the executive committee turned down CONCACAF’s request for a fourth guaranteed slot among the 31 available.

“It’s impossible to make always everybody happy. If we look at the sporting results of the
World Cup in 2010 there was no reason to change anything,” Blatter said.

But the change in the playoff system could make it easier for CONCACAF to win a fourth spot.

There will be a draw this July for the playoff pairings instead of the prearranged matchups used for the 2010 tournament. Uruguay, South America’s fifth-place team, defeated Costa Rica, which finished fourth in CONCACAF qualifying and then advanced all the way to the semifinals in South Africa.

For the 2014 World Cup, CONCACAF’s No. 4 team could face South America’s fifth-place finisher, Asia’s No. 5 team or the Oceania champion.

“What happened in the voting is that someone promised something, and when it came down to the voting, didn’t deliver,” Mexican Football Federation president Justino Compean told ESPN Radio. “(CONCACAF President Jack) Warner and Blazer are trustworthy people, but we only have three votes against 24.”

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said the site for the qualifying draw on July 30 has not been set, and it remains uncertain whether the 2014 opener will be played in Sao Paulo, where stadium plans remain uncertain.

FIFA’s decision Thursday caused CONCACAF to say it will reconsider a proposed change to qualifying that would have prevented regional powerhouses United States and Mexico from meeting.

Chuck Blazer, the American on FIFA’s executive committee and CONCACAF’s No. 2 official, said there would not be enough available dates on the FIFA calendar for the formula CONCACAF had proposed, which would have had two groups of four in a final round of qualifying. For the past four World Cups, CONCACAF had a six-nation group in the finals.

“We need to come up with a system that works,” he said. “At this point we’ll put everything on the table.”

Also:

*Canada was awarded the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

*FIFA made a $631 million profit in the four years leading up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, registering $202 million of that in last year alone.

The four-year financial cycle showed income of $4.19 billion from broadcast and commercial deals, with 87 percent tied directly to its marquee event, FIFA reported Thursday.

Revenue for soccer’s governing body rose 59 percent compared to the four years before the 2006 World Cup in Germany, although that tournament generated a bigger profit of $663 million.

The income easily covered rapidly rising spending of $3.56 billion on administrative costs and development projects from 2007-2010.

FIFA’s $202 million profit in 2010 was keyed by broadcast deals that outstripped expectations. Total European TV sales for the World Cup were $1.29 billion, and North America contributed $211 million.

Sunday’s Super Bowl was seen by a record number of American TV viewers.

By comparison, soccer has a way to go – in this country.

But the Super Bowl pales in comparison to World Cup soccer on a global scale.

And, in terms of passion, American football doesn’t really compare anyway, argues this writer.

We’re not in Qatar any more: A worker clears snow from the roof of the Veltins-Arena soccer stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, just before Christmas (AP Photo).

It figures that as the East Coast continues to dig out from its winter weather woes (I’m assuming MLS would be done by now, even if it were to move to a fall through spring schedule) and even usually temperate England debates (yet again) a winter break from soccer that there are even more voices suggesting the 2022 World Cup be moved from the scorching summer months in Qatar. There are also some notable opponents, too, however, so perhaps it’s for the best we’ve got a dozen years to figure this one out.

Here’s more from the Associated Press:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of the Asian Football Confederation supports moving the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter months to avoid the desert heat, but European clubs AC Milan and Barcelona oppose the move.

Mohamed bin Hammam, a Qatari national who is also a FIFA executive committee member, said Tuesday a winter tournament would ensure players would be in better shape and wouldn’t be exhausted after completing a grueling season that can run up to 60 games.

Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup this month despite concerns over temperatures which routinely exceed 104 degrees. Soon after it beat out the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea for the competition, a growing list of soccer executives began calling for moving the tournament to January when it is much cooler in Qatar.

FIFA executive committee member Franz Beckenbauer was the first to suggest the idea, and he was followed by UEFA president Michel Platini. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said it was worthy studying and FIFPro, which represents professional soccer players worldwide, said the event “must be held in winter.”

But the big soccer clubs remain unconvinced. They’re reluctant to change the international calendar and concerned over a loss of revenue from breaking up the season.

“It would be very difficult today to see the top five European leagues change their calendar in order to accommodate the World Cup in January,” AC Milan director Umberto Gandini said on the sidelines of the two-day Globe Soccer conference in Dubai.

“We have traditions. We have business in place. We have contracts in place,” he said. “It would be complicated. I’m not saying it’s not possible but it would require a lot of
negotiations, a lot of discussions and it would probably affect not only 2022 but 2021 as
well.”

Gandini and Barcelona President Sandro Rosell also downplayed concerns about the heat, noting several previous World Cup tournaments were played in conditions similar to those of Qatar in the summer.

Bin Hammam agreed Qatar would have no problem organizing the 2022 World Cup in July. But moving the tournament to the cooler winter months would be better for the players, he said.

“If the competition were held in June and July, it will perfectly organized by the host,” Bin
Hammam said. “If the competition would be moved to January, it will be a sort of win-win
situation for all the parties.”

Earlier this month, Blatter and general secretary Jerome Valcke said moving the Qatar matches to winter was worth considering. It could protect players from heat and provide flexibility for future bid cities.

Valcke said switching the schedule would make it possible for a wider range of countries to bid for the World Cup — which traditionally takes places in June and July — in the future.

Still, he said it’s “not so easy” to stage a winter World Cup since it would require changing the international calendar — including possibly the year before and after the 2022 tournament — and getting the support of domestic leagues and national federations.

Valcke said Qatar hasn’t formally requested changing the timing of the tournament, and bid officials have not said anything publicly about whether they would support such a move. Until now, Qatar has only promised FIFA that stadiums, training venues and areas for fans to party will be cooled with solar-powered air conditioning.

The Qatari challenge: The World Cup will meet the Arab world in 2022 (APG Photo).

As I researched this week’s column on the failed U.S. World Cup bid and what can be done in the future to improve U.S. chances, I spoke Monday with Christine Bird, a marketing executive with the Fullerton-based California State Soccer Association – South.

Bird has worked on a variety of major events including the World Cup and Olympic Games and in 2006 was a venue operations manager in Qatar when the nation hosted the 2006 Asian Games.

The focus of the column shifted and none of her remarks made into print, but Bird’s observations about the three months she spent in the country, although four years old now, remain valid.

Here’s a sampling of what she told me:

*The “culture clash” between Arab and Western society in a country where temperatures during the World Cup can soar to over 120 degrees mean people from both cultures will have to compromise:

“It’s going to be a change for them,” she said, adding she saw lots of burkhas. “They have 12 years to sort of contemplate this and decide how it is going to be. Everyone will be briefed before they go what the rules are going to be. People will have to respect what the attitude is.”

*The heat will be a major issue despite Qatar’s pledge to air condition stadiums:

“It is very hot. I arrived in October and it was over 100 degrees. My coworkers were telling me stories of summertime when it was 125 degrees. … Basically you go from indoor facility to indoor facility. It’s a desert. It’s a very dusty environment.”

*No matter how you look at it, Qatar and it’s World Cup will be a unique adventure for Western tourists:

“It’s an unknown to a lot of the world – I think people will be curious to go and see. By the time the event comes around there will be enough knowledge that it will be a safe and fun event that people will want to go. … They will put on a spectacular show. They have the money. They are very much about greeting guests and being good hosts.”

One final note: Bird observed that for the Asian Games Qatar dangled millions in front of athletes willing to become Qatari citizens and compete for that nation.

Will we see Qatar attempting to import, say, a bunch of Brazilians en masse in an effort to qualify for the World Cup? Stay tuned.

Big jersey, big dreams: Qatar created the world’s largest soccer jersey for its successful 2022 World Cup bid. Can the world’s biggest-ever World Cup budget be far behind? (AP Photo).

Updated:

FIFA responded to criticism of the World Cup bidding process today. The best part of this story – Jack Warner lecturing on the morality of FIFA in comparison to the media:

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — FIFA’s general secretary defended the process for choosing the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on Tuesday, but did not rule out the possibility of changing it for 2026.

Jerome Valcke said FIFA has until 2018 to decide if it “should or (should) not change” the way host countries are decided. But he said last week’s vote for the World Cup hosts was “perfectly organized, perfectly transparent and perfectly under control.”

Russia beat bids from England, Belgium-Netherlands and Spain-Portugal for 2018. Qatar, which was criticized by FIFA for the heat and its small size, won the 2022 vote ahead of Australia, Japan, United States, and South Korea. The vote was greeted with surprise, in particular in England and the United States, and sparked allegations that the process was too secretive and open to corruption.

Before the vote in Zurich, FIFA’s committee members faced intense British media scrutiny about alleged corruption and vote-trading. FIFA suspended two committee members from for violating ethics rules, but said there was insufficient evidence to prove allegations that Qatar and the Spain-Portugal bid had conspired to trade blocks of votes.

“If we say yes, yes it does not work, we would recognize something went wrong,” said Valcke, who was in Abu Dhabi before Wednesday’s opening match of the Club World Cup. “I’m sorry to say we have organized a voting system which was very transparent.

“If the question is it’s not transparent because you don’t know who voted for whom, you will never know for whom I voted for between Nicolas Sarkozy and (French Socialist politician) Segolene Royal three years ago when the election took place. I will not tell because that is my freedom to decide for whom I voted without having to say publicly my choice.”

Chuck Blazer, a FIFA executive committee member from the United States, insisted “the process had not failed at all.”

Blazer said he voted for Russia and the United States, and denied media allegations that he had reneged on a promise to vote for England, and had backed Qatar for 2022 ahead of his own country.

“I’ve been very clear to anyone who was involved in the bidding and had impression on how I was leaning. I never made a promise to anyone how I was going to vote. I certainly never disappointed anyone,” he said. “I voted for Russia and the United States, and I did so for what I believed were good and sufficient reasons.”

Blazer insisted the secret ballot limited outside pressure on the 22 FIFA executive committee members who voted Thursday.

“Personally, I feel there is a need for a closed ballot at FIFA at this level because of the
fact there are many governments and other individuals interested in potentially influencing the votes of members who may be in their own constituency,” he said. “The one way to protect them is allowing them to vote without it being public. People who yell transparency, well there are problems sometimes in that transparency if it has a negative effect on those people who need to exercise judgment.”

FIFA vice president Jack Warner on Tuesday blamed British media investigations for England’s failure in the 2018 vote.

“The FIFA ExCo as a body could not have voted for England having been insulted by their media in the worst possible way at the same time,” Warner said. “To do so would have been the ultimate insult (to FIFA).”

Three days before the vote, FIFA was hit by corruption allegations when three senior officials were accused by the European media of having received secret payments. Executive committee members Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil, Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay and Issa Hayatou of Camaroon were said to have allegedly received payoffs from world soccer’s former marketing agency. The BBC and Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger and Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that three long-standing members of FIFA’s ruling panel received kickbacks from marketing agency ISL from 1989-99.

Valke and Blazer said it was time to move past these allegations and Blazer insisted the
allegations in no way tainted either winner.

“I don’t want any of that to take away from victory of Russia and Qatar in having been
successful in the vote,” Blazer said. “I was satisfied when I left the voting room that the
vote had been held democratically, that people had voted their own conscious and this was the result.”