Decision Day: World Cup 2018/2022

That's the beauty of our bid. We don't have to build shit. We could host the World Cup right now without much difficulty. And we have precedent on our side. One of the most seamless World Cups ever was held on our soil. Last but not least, soccer is finally starting to pick up some momentum in the U.S. It's a chance for FIFA to finally conquer that one last major jurisdiction where soccer hasn't taken hold.

By 2022 I could see the nats having a good chance at winning the tournament.

menalawyerguy wrote:And saying it's one of the nicest countries in the Middle East isn't saying much.

Have you been to Kuwait or Saudi Arabia? Yikes.

I know someone in Kuwait and he's pretty well off.....

SBSP_FIFA wrote:You wouldn't think South Africa would be either. But the World Cup turned out terrific.

It wasn't even that good ........

I'm hoping for Spain/Portugal and Australia.

Luxz0rz wrote:

menalawyerguy wrote:And saying it's one of the nicest countries in the Middle East isn't saying much.

Have you been to Kuwait or Saudi Arabia? Yikes.

I know someone in Kuwait and he's pretty well off.....

So what? It's a boring, underachieving country with almost nothing noteworthy.

Also, all of the Arabian Gulf countries have a mix of really well off (uber rich in some cases) citizens and western expats, and then an ocean of dirt poor borderline slaves from the Indian Subcontinent, southeast Asia, Africa and other parts of the Middle East.

menalawyerguy wrote:I'm sure they'll build enough hotels to accomodate the influx. But it's artificial. When the World Cup is over, they're going to have the same problem Greece has in the aftermath of the Olympics. All of these great new buildings, and nothing to do with them. And a slew of creditors who want to be paid back. They can handle that, as long as natural gas is on demand. But what a waste.

Who really gives a fuck about what they do after the WC? If they can't pay off their debt, that's the government's fault. That shouldn't have to play in FIFA's decision.

Luxz0rz wrote:

menalawyerguy wrote:And saying it's one of the nicest countries in the Middle East isn't saying much.

Have you been to Kuwait or Saudi Arabia? Yikes.

I know someone in Kuwait and he's pretty well off.....

SBSP_FIFA wrote:You wouldn't think South Africa would be either. But the World Cup turned out terrific.

It wasn't even that good ........

South Africa didn't organise the football, that ruined the World Cup. South Africa did well with it.

Dan wrote:

Luxz0rz wrote:

menalawyerguy wrote:And saying it's one of the nicest countries in the Middle East isn't saying much.

Have you been to Kuwait or Saudi Arabia? Yikes.

I know someone in Kuwait and he's pretty well off.....

SBSP_FIFA wrote:You wouldn't think South Africa would be either. But the World Cup turned out terrific.

It wasn't even that good ........

South Africa didn't organise the football, that ruined the World Cup. South Africa did well with it.

This.

Say what you want about the vuvuzelas and the jabulani, South Africa did a great job hosting the tournemnt, its just a shame that most of the football on display was abysmal.

JMB_94 wrote:This.

Say what you want about the vuvuzelas and the jabulani, South Africa did a great job hosting the tournemnt, its just a shame that most of the football on display was abysmal.

Na I thought most of the games (other than England) that I watched were pretty decent.

The Vuvuzelas were the worst part, and yes they really were that annoying.

Luxz0rz wrote:

JMB_94 wrote:This.

Say what you want about the vuvuzelas and the jabulani, South Africa did a great job hosting the tournemnt, its just a shame that most of the football on display was abysmal.

Na I thought most of the games (other than England) that I watched were pretty decent.

The Vuvuzelas were the worst part, and yes they really were that annoying.

Wasn't just England tbh, i watched more then half of the 2010 World Cup games and there was only 2 or 3 memorable matches IMO, i don't care if the ball was rubbish some of the football was a so bad and dull that i resorted to turning over before the game even ended.

And i got used to the vuvuzelas after a while, they weren't THAT annoying.

Spain/Portugal would be where I would want to go for 18, 22' USA ofc. Spain and Portugal have the stadiums, infrastructural, all that crap. Not really sure why joint bids aren't liked, if the two countries are safe and all that then go ahead.

dena wrote:Spain/Portugal would be where I would want to go for 18, 22' USA ofc. Spain and Portugal have the stadiums, infrastructural, all that crap. Not really sure why joint bids aren't liked, if the two countries are safe and all that then go ahead.

Because it generally a waste of space for better teams to qualify or seeding for the draw. It's not really a problem for Spain & Portugal's case (except Portugal would be considered a top seed).

I was at the tournament in person and didn't find the vuvuzelas annoying. I just couldn't get into the tournament. Not to mention, the amount of people begging was abysmal and other than two cities, it was a bore.

What's wrong with Saudi Arabia? My aunt and uncle and nieces lived there for five years and they came back with nothing but good things to say about the country....

And they also lived in Tunisia and Egypt, and both of those places were perfectly fine for them and their small girls.

Scuba Steve wrote:What's wrong with Saudi Arabia? My aunt and uncle and nieces lived there for five years and they came back with nothing but good things to say about the country....

Other than it being a fascist Islamic dictatorship with no personal freedom (except on compounds)? Nothing, I guess.

In fact, the compound was probably why your aunt and uncle didn't mind it. Once you get off the compound, Islam rules every thing you do.

That just smacks of baseless assumptions.They lived their daily lives amongst the people of those countries, and ever had any problems. My dad could back that claim up as well

Scuba Steve wrote: That just smacks of baseless assumptions.They lived their daily lives amongst the people of those countries, and ever had any problems. My dad could back that claim up as well

Fine. It's not a baseless assumption though (and notice that I used the world "probably." I made no assumption). The vast majority of westerners who live in Saudi Arabia live on compounds. And if it wasn't for those compounds, the vast majority of Westerners who live in Saudi Arabia would hate it there. These aren't baseless assmptions. I'm basing this on personal experience.

Why would it be living there though. Do people who go to World Cups in foreign countries tend to live in those countries for the rest of their lives (or would that even matter?)

If you are going for a week (or even a couple of weeks), are you really trying to assimilate into that culture/country/religion/people/etc?

No.

Scuba Steve wrote:Why would it be living there though. Do people who go to World Cups in foreign countries tend to live in those countries for the rest of their lives (or would that even matter?)

If you are going for a week (or even a couple of weeks), are you really trying to assimilate into that culture/country/religion/people/etc?

No.

That wasn't really the original point. But it's just not the most desirable country out there. Let's put it that way.

Neither was South Africa, and do you remember all the problems that people had once they actually got to the tournament?

At least South Africa has some basic allowances for personal freedom. Could you imagine attending a World Cup game in Saudi Arabia and not being able to booz it up? Good luck having any sort of a festive post-match celebtration too. Saudi is just too far behind the rest of the world to host a progressive modern global event like the World Cup.

As much as I love a cold one (or warm one, or mixed one, or bomb one, etc), whether or not I can put one back after a game is hardly going to decide if I have a good time in a country or not That's such a weak argument against having the World Cup in a country like Saudi Arabia. Would have thought that you could have managed more.

It was just an anecdote to demonstrate a broader problem with Saudi Arabia. Obviously, my argument doesn't consist entirely of "you can't have a beer there." Mix in some big picture comprehension here, come on. I'm making a broader point about the nature of personal freedom in Saudi Arabia. It's virtually non existant. It would be one of the most joyless and constrained World Cups ever (under current political circumstances).

Saudi Arabia is on planet Earth. So it's liveable. But relatively speaking, it's the one of the most, if not the most, ass backwards countries on the planet. And you're sticking up for it?












They still stone people for adultery there.

Saudi Arabia > South Africa.

Tbh I'd rather just not commit any crimes or not be too fearful of others committing them on me due to the punishment of cutting off shit

In South Africa, you run that risk when you just walk down the street..........AND the knife has aids on it

Then Jedda is the place for you.

Actually, your house is the place for you. Just stay inside. Don't ever come out. Too risky.

That reminds me, I never saw the crime statistics for the South Africa World Cup. Anybody got those?

menalawyerguy wrote:That reminds me, I never saw the crime statistics for the South Africa World Cup. Anybody got those?

One man got robbed.

By twenty sefen fowsand.

The-Reporter wrote:One man got robbed.

There's about 50 murders everyday in South Africa, and I doubt everyone reported every crime to the police i.e. some random dude robs you..you're not going to see the money again.

menalawyerguy wrote:Then Jedda is the place for you.

Actually, your house is the place for you. Just stay inside. Don't ever come out. Too risky.

Yes, because there's no medium between walking around Johannesburg and sitting in your room forever ......