Host Selection
The bidding procedure to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups began in January 2009, and national associations had until 2 February 2009 to register their interest. Initially, eleven bids were made for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but Mexico later withdrew from proceedings, and Indonesia's bid was rejected by FIFA in February 2010 after the Indonesian government failed to submit a letter to support the bid. Indonesian officials had not ruled out a bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, until Qatar took the 2022 cup. During the bidding process, all non-UEFA nations gradually withdrew from the 2018 bids, thus making the UEFA nations ineligible for the 2022 bid.
There were eventually five bids for the 2022 FIFA World Cup: Australia, Japan, Qatar, South Korea and the United States. The twenty-two member FIFA Executive Committee convened in Zürich on 2 December 2010 to vote to select the hosts of both tournaments. The decision to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was graded as having "high operational risk", generated criticism from media commentators, LGBT rights groups and American, Australian and English officials. There have been allegations of bribery or corruption in the selection process involving four members of FIFA's executive committee, which FIFA investigated. However the whistleblower, revelead to be Phaedra Almajid, later retracted her claims of bribery. She claimed she fabricated them in order to exact revenge on the Qatari bid team for relieving her of her job with them. She also denied being put under any pressure to make her retraction. FIFA confirmed receiving an email from her which stated her retraction.
Qatar is the smallest nation, both by relative population and by area, ever to have been awarded a FIFA World Cup. (The next smallest by population is Uruguay, host of the 1930 World Cup, whose 2009 population is more than twice that of Qatar. The next smallest by area is Switzerland, host of the 1954 FIFA World Cup, which is more than three times as large as Qatar).
The voting patterns were as follows:
| Bidders | Votes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | |
| Qatar | 11 | 10 | 11 | 14 |
| United States | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| South Korea | 4 | 5 | 5 | — |
| Japan | 3 | 2 | — | — |
| Australia | 1 | — | — | — |
Read more about this topic: 2022 FIFA World Cup
Famous quotes containing the words host and/or selection:
“Pure was thy life; its bloody close
Hath placed thee with the sons of light,
Among the noble host of those
Who perished in the cause of Right.”
—William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)
“It is the highest and most legitimate pride of an Englishman to have the letters M.P. written after his name. No selection from the alphabet, no doctorship, no fellowship, be it of ever so learned or royal a society, no knightship,—not though it be of the Garter,—confers so fair an honour.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)