Concacaf President Warner wants England to host 2018 World Cup and USA to get 2022
Concacaf President and Fifa Vice-President Jack Warner hopes to convince the USA to abandon their bid for the 2018 finals in order to clear the way for England.
"My message to the USA - and they don't have to listen - is to try to make a deal for 2022 and I'm quite sure that would have universal support."
Although it is painful to say, Warner does make a strong point. The 2018 World Cup is all but assured to be held in Europe and England is by far the front-runner. That said, the US has a major advantage that could trump the somewhat emotional desire to give England only their second final and that is money.
With over 20 stadiums currently able to hold 70,000+ fans and a large diverse population already built in the US, a repeat of the 1994 event (in terms of tickets sold) is very likely. These tickets along with corporate sponsorship deals would likely make FIFA a huge sum of money, even by FIFA standards.
Then again, all that will still be there for 2022.
If there is any message to take from this, it is a warning to the US Soccer Federation that you can bid on 2018, but don't expect your region's president to strong-arm people to vote for you. Warner will stay with the US during the bidding process but he will not do the heavy lifting needed to win the event.
So what should the US do? The 2018 and 2022 cups will be awarded at the same time, so the bidding process is the same time frame. Should they try to reach a deal to obtain England and other European votes or take the risk?
My thought is go for 2022.
On another note of interest, at no point does Warner point to any other CONCACAF countries as possible hosts, which suggests both Mexico and Canada are out in the cold on this one.
"My message to the USA - and they don't have to listen - is to try to make a deal for 2022 and I'm quite sure that would have universal support."
Although it is painful to say, Warner does make a strong point. The 2018 World Cup is all but assured to be held in Europe and England is by far the front-runner. That said, the US has a major advantage that could trump the somewhat emotional desire to give England only their second final and that is money.
With over 20 stadiums currently able to hold 70,000+ fans and a large diverse population already built in the US, a repeat of the 1994 event (in terms of tickets sold) is very likely. These tickets along with corporate sponsorship deals would likely make FIFA a huge sum of money, even by FIFA standards.
Then again, all that will still be there for 2022.
If there is any message to take from this, it is a warning to the US Soccer Federation that you can bid on 2018, but don't expect your region's president to strong-arm people to vote for you. Warner will stay with the US during the bidding process but he will not do the heavy lifting needed to win the event.
So what should the US do? The 2018 and 2022 cups will be awarded at the same time, so the bidding process is the same time frame. Should they try to reach a deal to obtain England and other European votes or take the risk?
My thought is go for 2022.
On another note of interest, at no point does Warner point to any other CONCACAF countries as possible hosts, which suggests both Mexico and Canada are out in the cold on this one.
Labels: 2018 World Cup, 2022 World Cup, Canada, England, FIFA, Jack Warner, Mexico, US MNT, US Soccer, World Cup
posted by Mike H at 12:45 PM
2 Comments:
You're believing anything Warner says? I'm far more likely to believe the BigSoccer blog post that suggested that Warner's just screwing with both the US and England, and will instead support a Mexico bid. Because with Mexico, he can skim off a few million more for himself.
That's what it is all about really....how much money he can make.
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