FIFA Updates

SINGAPORE (AP)—Qatar may be considered an outsider in the bidding to host the
2022 World Cup but the head of its bid committee feels the desert nation has a
good chance to be chosen by FIFA in December.

“Our chances are good,” Hassan Al-Thawadi told reporters at an Asian
football forum in Singapore. “It will be a close call, but I do believe coming
to Qatar and the Middle East in 2022 will be a new frontier for FIFA.”

Qatar is bidding against the U.S., Japan, South Korea and Australia. It is
aiming to become the first Middle Eastern country to host football’s biggest
tournament, but faces several hurdles, including its scorching summer heat and
restrictive alcohol and dress policies.

Al-Thawadi said Qatar is developing “second-generation cooling technology”
which will keep stadiums, training facilities and fan areas at about 27 Celsius
(81 degrees), far cooler than the 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees) high that
Qatar averages in June, July and August. Qatar also plans to allow alcohol
consumption in fan zones and bathing suits to be worn at hotel pools.

“I don’t see it as a cultural clash,” Al-Thawadi said. “We accept other
people’s cultures.”

Qatar plans to invest $4 billion to build 12 stadiums which would all be
within an hour of each other, allowing teams and fans to cut down on travel time
and cost. It will host the 2011 Asian Cup and will unveil a new $5 billion
international airport next year that will be able to accommodate 50 million
passengers a year.

Qatar, which has large reserves of oil and gas, has one of the world’s
highest gross domestic product per capita at $81,692, according to the
International Monetary Fund.

Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam, a Qatar citizen,
told reporters he would vote for his country’s 2022 bid. He warned that China’s
bid to host the 2026 World Cup could be in jeopardy if an Asian country were
chosen for the 2022 tournament.

“If any of these countries succeed, there will be no chance for Asia to
host in 2026,” Hammam said. “So the ambition of China has to go a few years
after.”

A FIFA delegation is ending a three-day visit to Australia on Wednesday to
inspect stadiums and other facilities for the country’s 2022 bid. At the end of
the inspection tour, the delegation will submit a report to assist FIFA’s 24
executive members select a host for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, which will be
announced by FIFA on Dec. 2 in Zurich.

The U.S. is competing for 2018 tournament, though it appears likely one of
four European bids—England, Russia, and the joint bids of Spain-Portugal and
Netherlands-Belgium—will be chosen.

By MICHAEL CASEY AP Sports Writer

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates(AP)—China’s Football Association has signaled it may bid for the World Cup in 2026, raising speculation that such a move could undermine the hopes of Japan, South Korea, Qatar and even Australia, which are in the running to host the 2022 tournament.

The winning bids for 2018 and 2022 will be announced Dec. 2, with a European country expected to be chosen for the earlier year. The emergence of China as a contender for 2026 could work in favor of the U.S. bid for 2022.

“If China throws its hat in for 2026, it blows everything wide open for 2022 because in many ways China is arguably the last great footballing frontier,” said Simon Chadwick, a sports marketing expert at Coventry University in England.

“From the Chinese government’s perspective, bidding for the World Cup is an important thing,” he said. “From FIFA’s perspective, there is considerable appeal in China bidding for 2026 because I think it’s a very important marketplace. I would argue China is a much more important marketplace than the (U.S.) was in 1994.”

CFA head Wei Di first hinted at a bid last week after returning from the World Cup in South Africa, telling the country’s leading sports newspaper, Titan Sports, that China has the venues and the rail network needed to host a big event – something he communicated to FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

“Mr. Blatter told me China is becoming more and more influential and it’s an irresistible trend that China will finally host a World Cup,” Wei said.

He also came out in favor of the United States winning the 2022 bid and took aim at Qatar over fears that an Asian winner would jeopardize China’s chances in 2026.

FIFA rules dictate that no continent can host the World Cup twice in a row.

The talk of China bidding for 2026 World Cup brought a less than supportive response from Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam, a native Qatari.

Bin Hammam said the AFC is supporting the four Asian bidders for the 2022 tournament and that he “didn’t want to jeopardize their chances.”

Reaction from the four bidders to the Chinese threat has been mostly mixed, with only Japan acknowledging that a Chinese bid poses challenges. Qatar and Australian football officials declined to comment.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—The four Asian countries bidding to host the
2022 World Cup already have enough to be concerned about with demands for
stadiums, hotels and transport networks and strong contenders from other
confederations. Now, they have to worry about China.

China’s Football Association has signaled it may bid for the World Cup in
2026, raising speculation that such a move could undermine the hopes of Japan,
South Korea, Qatar and even Australia which are in the running to host the 2022
tournament.

The winning bids for 2018 and 2022 will be announced Dec. 2, with a European
country expected to be chosen for the earlier of those. The emergence of China
as a contender for 2026 could work in favor of the U.S. bid for 2022.

“If China throws its hat in for 2026, it blows everything wide open for
2022 because in many ways China is arguably the last great footballing
frontier,” said Simon Chadwick, a sports marketing expert at Coventry
University in England.

“From the Chinese government’s perspective, bidding for the World Cup is an
important thing,” he said. “From FIFA’s perspective, there is considerable
appeal in China bidding for 2026 because I think it’s a very important
marketplace. I would argue China is much more important marketplace than the
(U.S.) was in 1994.”

CFA head Wei Di first hinted at a bid last week after returning from the
2010 World Cup in South Africa, telling the country’s leading sports newspaper
Titan Sports that China has the venues and the rail network needed to host a big
event—something he communicated to FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

“Mr. Blatter told me China is becoming more and more influential and it’s
an irresistible trend that China will finally host a World Cup,” Wei said.

He also came out in favor of the United States winning the 2022 bid and took
aim at Qatar, over fears that an Asian winner would jeopardize China’s chances
in 2026.

FIFA rules dictate that no continent can host the World Cup twice in a row.

“Qatar is so hot. Even though the country is rich enough to build venues
with air conditioning system. But what’s the population of that country? How can
they fill their venues with people?” Wei told the newspaper.

Strict protocol prohibits candidates from discussing rival World Cup bids
ahead of the vote in December for the 2018 and 2022 editions, but the contest
for countries wanting to host the 2026 World Cup isn’t even open yet, so China
isn’t bound by those guidelines.

“I’d rather hope U.S could win the bid, which means we’ll have higher
chance of success bidding for 2026,” Wei was quoted as saying. “If FIFA
decided to let an Asian country host the 2022 World Cup, then China will have to
wait at least until 2030.”

Wei this week reaffirmed China’s interest in hosting the 2026 tournament
during a press conference in Beijing but said, according to the Asian Football
Confederation website, “I never said I don’t want other Asian countries not to
win it in 2022.”

The talk of China bidding for 2026 World Cup brought a less than supportive
response from AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam, a native Qatari who was at the
news conference.

Bin Hammam said the AFC is supporting the four Asian bidders for the 2022
tournament and that he “didn’t want to jeopardize their chances.”

Reaction from the four bidders to the Chinese threat has been mostly mixed,
with only Japan acknowledging that a Chinese bid poses challenges. Qatar and
Australian football officials declined to comment.

“I think any country has to take it seriously when a country with so huge a
population and such strong economic growth puts itself forward as a candidate,”
Motoaki Inukai, chairman of Japan’s bid and president of the Japan Football
Association, said of a China bid. “For FIFA, China is definitely important when
it comes to the development of football.”

But South Korean officials dismissed a threat posed by China and said its
intentions will not influence FIFA delegates when they choose the 2022 World Cup
host.

“Since the Chinese haven’t even formally registered a bid yet, I don’t
think the fact that they’ve shown interest in hosting the World Cup in 2026 will
weaken our chances,” said Han Sung-joo, chairman of South Korea’s World Cup
bidding committee.

If China does manage to win the 2026 bid, it would hail a starling
turnaround for a nation that has languished in Asian football despite its
massive population and interest in the sport. In its favor was China’s
successful staging of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which highlighted the country’s
ability to host a major event.

Its domestic league has been marred by corruption and the national squad was
knocked out of 2010 World Cup qualifying last year, failing to make the top 10
sides in Asia. In its only World Cup appearance, when the finals were co-hosted
by South Korea and Japan in 2002, China lost all three group games and failed to
score a goal.

Although football remains hugely popular in China, many fans have given up
on the local teams and instead closely follow the professional leagues in
England, Spain, Germany and Italy.

But there are signs that China is attempting to improve its footballing
image—to reflect is growing economic might and the passion for the sport that
has been undaunted despite its recent troubles.

Newly appointed national team coach Gao Hongbo has set qualification for the
2014 World Cup in Brazil as a target in his quest to revitalize the beleaguered
team. And Wei has vowed to clean up the local league and improve the performance
of the national side by scheduling more matches and improving training
techniques.

“In China, there is already a strong predisposition toward football,”
Chadwick said. “It’s a captive audience and nobody has engaged that captive
audience. I think 2026 is the opportunity for FIFA to engage that captive
audience.”

AP Sports Writer Jim Armstrong in Tokyo, Associated Press writer Kwang-tae
Kim from Seoul, South Korea and researcher Xi Yue from Beijing contributed to
this report.

Argentina and Atletico Madrid star Sergio Aguero has denied that the Albiceleste’s World Cup campaign was a failure, pointing out the fact Diego Maradona’s side won four games in a row and finishing higher than England and Italy as reasons to be cheerful.

“I am happy with the Seleccion and how we did in the World Cup. We arrived much further behind than teams like Italy and England, very good teams with quality players, so I don’t know why people are talking about failure,” El Kun told Ole as he enjoyed time off in Argentina.

“It was my first World Cup at 22 years old, it was a massive experience that helped me a great deal in spite of the final result.”

Aguero also stated that he hopes his impressive – if fleeting – performances in South Africa, combined with a great season with Atletico Madrid, would finally put to bed accusations that he was in the team by virtue of being Diego Maradona’s son-in-law.

“I had a great year with my club; I won a UEFA Cup, I was in the Copa del Rey final. There are no reasons for questioning my selection. I was Kun Aguero long before I was Maradona’s son-in-law… people know that. But because they want to mess with Diego, they are also messing with me.”

And the forward also was looking forward, with a hint of trepidation, to reuniting with his Spanish team-mates still on a high after a first World Cup triumph, not to mention close friend and Golden Ball winner Diego Forlan.

“Yes, I am heading back there Spain had a great team, that’s why they won. They have the best players, almost everyone is a superstar. They were favourites and they did it. It also pleased me that Forlan was given the prize for best player.”

Finally, Aguero joined the lengthy list of Albiceleste players who want to see Maradona continue on the national team bench, saying that he brings a special something to the role which no one else could.

“Besides speaking with us, simply his presence gives us strength. Being there, he makes you feel that you have to do everything to your best. Whether it is him or whoever, in the Seleccion you have to give the maximum, but with Diego there is an extra something.”

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