Bitter Cup

[muckefuck]

John Oliver, on why even hardcore soccer fans feel conflicted about the World Cup:

I'm very take-it-or-leave-it about the game in general, so deciding not to watch the matches was easy for me (although I did have to fight off the temptation to stop into my favourite pub for the last half hour of USA vs Germany yesterday). FIFA is not one iota less odious than the IOC and it's been something like a decade since I decided I was done with the Olympics for good. Several commentators have made the observation that enough people have finally wised up to the utter venality of these organisations and the vast exaggeration of the benefits to the host countries that, in future, the only willing hosts will be authoritarian regimes looking to shore up their international image (though for Qatar, this seems to be backfiring badly).

But I know so many people in the same boat as Oliver (given the overwhelming draw of these events, it's inevitable if your circle of friends is the least bit cosmopolitan) that it's impossible for me not to get at little swept up in the fervour. So I make ridiculous compromises like checking the outcomes of the games, but avoiding official sites. As if my clicks mattered in the grand scheme of things. And in the even that our national team survives the knockout stage, it will become even harder to keep my attention averted.

Comments

[lhn.livejournal.com]

Several commentators have made the observation that enough people have finally wised up to the utter venality of these organisations and the vast exaggeration of the benefits to the host countries that, in future, the only willing hosts will be authoritarian regimes looking to shore up their international image

So Chicago isn't out of the woods yet, then.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Zing!

[mollyc-q.livejournal.com]

Nice one!
Actually, Chicago is out of the woods, for the World Cup at least. In the last U.S. bid for the World Cup and I forget whether that went to Russia or (only corruption explains the choice of ) Qatar (for a summer tournament,). Did they brag "Its like Manaus only worse! But, hey, its dry heat and at! every! venue!" Chicago was not even one of the proposed host cities despite being part of the NASL and an original MLS franchise. Soldier Field (and this was post expansion ) does not have enough seats to qualify the city as a host venue.

If nothing else, then a least the U.S. appears unlikely to ever propose hosting a World Cup where the plan wasn't to use pre-existing stadiums.

[bunj.livejournal.com]

The US was second in the running after Qatar for 2022. We may end up hosting it, anyway. The stink from the Qatar deal is getting hard for even FIFA to ignore, so they may back out. In that case, they will probably go with a country with enough existing stadiums and an ability to host the tournament on short notice (well, relatively). The US would be a likely choice, assuming we still want to host at that point.