- by Kevin Curtis, writing from Orlando
The United States launched the “Go USA Bid” campaign encouraging Americans to cast their vote to FIFA to hold the tournament in the United States. Now that we know the results, it is hard to determine the reasons why the United States was not chosen to be hosts. FIFA has released statements saying they chose Qatar because they wanted to “expand soccer’s popularity to the middle east,” something they say they have wanted to do for some time. However to soccer fans in the United States, that is not a satisfying justification. American soccer fans are still furious as to why we were not chosen. The President of U.S. Soccer, Sunil Gulati, had this to say in an email he sent to all those who supported the US for the 2022 bid, “There's no way around it: I am disappointed. Millions of U.S. soccer fans worked hard to bring the World Cup to our country. To come up short is very difficult to take.”
Maybe the proper reaction should be that American fans start supporting the MLS, just as we support the NBA and NFL, to demonstrate to the World and FIFA Committee that we love the sport. That way we are no longer looked down on by other countries and prove we have what it takes. From what I’ve read, the FIFA committee usually selects one of two types of countries, those that love the sport and those that know nothing and don’t care. What I mean by that is, some countries don’t really care about soccer, like the U.S. did decades ago. The United States is in the middle, making it hard for committee to determine us as the clear-cut choice.
Also reading some responses from the interviews I conducted I began to think, I wonder how much politics played in the decision of the committee. Could former president Bill Clinton taken points away from us? Is the FIFA committee anti-Clinton? We also had Morgan Freeman and Landon Donovan, the face of U.S. Soccer, stating their claims to why we should host the world cup. I also believe that corruption may have played a role in the committee’s decisions. This idea came into my head after hearing my brother’s reaction to Qatar being chosen. I wanted to see if anyone else thought this as well.
According to FoxSoccer.com, England also believes there was corruption involved in their loss to Russia to host the 2018 World Cup. This may be similar to the corruption in the Olympic committee, where committee members were bribed with money by country representatives to bring the Olympic games to their countries. However that is just my speculation as to what could have influenced the committee’s decision.
After conducting interviews, reading articles online, reading people’s facebook statuses, it’s safe to say everyone will agree with me when I ask the question, “Why?” I woke up on Thursday at 10am to watch the FIFA World Cup presentation with excitement because I wanted to see them announce the United States as the hosts of the 2022 World Cup live. So I could proudly say my country was hosting another World Cup. Instead I angrily went back to sleep and found myself wondering what could have been all day.
However the grieving process is over and we must look ahead to what changes will need to be made to make sure we host the 2026 or 2030 World Cup. I want to end with the inspiring quote Sunil Gulati ended his heartfelt email to soccer fans with, “Thanks to your efforts, the Game is stronger than ever in our country, and it will continue to grow stronger. There's no question that you've helped make a lasting impact on soccer in the United States. The entire country – and the entire world – took notice. Even though our Bid did not win, the future of soccer is bright in the United States. You've proven to the world that The Game Is In You, and that The Game Is In US.”
