|
|
| |
|
 |
| |
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The U.S. and China: World Cup teammates?
Following this summer’s World Cup in South Africa, there have been a few sobering reports about the the fact that the country, like most hosts, will ultimately see little financial boon from tournament. This has not deterred the dozens of countries (and passionate soccer fans like myself) from the desire to win bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, to be awarded this December 4. With England the clear favorite to host in 2018, the U.S. has turned its focus to the 2022 tournament, when there will be less competition from European countries. However, because FIFA likes to rotate the tournament between continents, the most intriguing of the many political maneuvers affecting the U.S. bid involves the 2026 tournament, and China’s desire to host it.
As detailed in this excellent Time.com article, the Chinese have their sights set 16 years into the future, while the aforementioned nations are focused only on the next two tournaments up for bid. Because FIFA would leap at the chance to gain 1.4 billion new soccer-lovers in 2026, it’s a fair bet to say that they would avoid awarding the 2022 tournament to another Asian country. This would be great news for the U.S. bid, since its strongest competition for 2022 are Qatar, Japan and South Korea. The U.S. Soccer Federation had better be on the phone with their counterparts in China over the next ten weeks, as a strong promotional partnership for China 2026 would likely give both sides the hosting duties that they crave.
Once politics seeps its way into sports, it appears that sports can make strange bedfellows too.
|
|
 |
|
 | |
|
