Russia and Qatar Host World Cups

(nathan82.wordpress.com)- Congratulations to the people of Russia & Qatar (and the rest of the Middle East).  I am really pleased for you and hope you enjoy the World Cups and that your nations benefit in a positive way.

Of course, being an Englishman, I was gutted that England did not win the vote.  And my favourite for 2022 would have been Australia.  But never mind there is no point having sour grapes and I am not writing this post out of bitterness.  However, I am disappointed with the outcome of the FIFA voting and especially that Qatar won.

Reasons Qatar should not host the World Cup

• They have no football heritage
• They have never qualified for a World Cup and only once got past the first round of the Asian Cup
• There are huge amounts of commercial opportunities for FIFA through choosing Qatar – this is not a viable reason for choosing a nation to host a tournament
• Travelling and staying in Qatar will be a nightmare for the average fan
• Qatar are super-rich and can simply build the best stadiums and complexes and would have been able to put on extraordinary hospitality for FIFA delegates – it goes against everything that was great about the World Cup in South Africa

Reasons why Qatar should host the World Cup

• It will be great for the people of the Middle East to have a home tournament.
• The stadiums look incredible!

Reasons Russia should not host the World Cup

• Few people would dispute that Russia is a nation full of corruption – given the recent accusations towards FIFA one wonders if there are some dodgy dealings going on
• They have not qualified for the last two World Cups – I hate nations getting free places at tournaments when they would have been unlikely to qualify otherwise (eg Ukraine & Poland at the next European Championships)

Reasons Russia should host the World Cup

• They have a great footballing heritage – from 1958-1972 USSR made it to eight major quarter-finals and won the European Championships in 1960 (something England never did!)
• They have never hosted a major tournament before
• Many cities will benefit from hosting matches

So, when our country Indonesia will be host World Cups?