Philadelphia And US Lose Out On World Cup Hosting Bid
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The United States will be watching the 2022 World Cup on TV, because international soccer's governing body has awarded the competition to the Mideast nation of Qatar.
Soccer fans and Philadelphia city officials groaned in disappointment today at word that Qatar would host the 2022 World Cup.
Mayor Nutter (back to camera) was among those who gathered at the sports pub Tir Na Nog, 16th and Arch Streets, to watch the FIFA announcement.
"I don't know how they ultimately make the decision, but if you want to talk about enthusiasm, if you want to talk about commitment, if you want to talk about infrastructure, if you talk about hotel rooms, venues, hospitality, tourism, the United States of America has it all. Philadelphia certainly has it as well," he said afterward. "So I don't know how they made the decision but I'm proud of what we did."
Nutter says Philadelphia led the US in petition signatures in support of a World Cup bid, but ultimately the city came out on the short end of an international decision.
FIFA officials also announced that Russia had won the bid to host the 2018 World Cup. Qatar, the smallest in population of all the bidding nations with only 1.6 million inhabitants, will become the first Middle Eastern nation to host the massive sporting event.
A late push by the United States bidding committee included the star power of Morgan Freeman, former president Bill Clinton, and a video message from President Barack Obama, making appearances Wednesday afternoon.
The United States previously hosted the World Cup in 1994.
The US was beaten out by Qatar for the 2022 World Cup despite the tiny Arab nation's blistering heat and dismal ranking as a soccer power.
Now, a University of Pennsylvania business school professor dissects what may seem to be a puzzling choice.
Kenneth Shropshire (right), director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, says only time will tell what really drove the decision.
"There's a lot of conjecture, certainly, that FIFA, which holds the rights to the World Cup, seems to be looking to new venues," he said on Thursday afternoon. " 'We were in South Africa the last time around, we're gonna be in Brazil next, and here's the idea of being in the Middle East.' From the standpoint of how easy it'll be to get it done there, that's where the real challenge lies."
First challenge: dealing with temperatures that can spike to 130 degrees.
But Shropshire says US fans shouldn't feel cheated.
"Americans have to understand we have hosted an abundance of these events relative to other countries and other sectors of the world," he said, "so from that standpoint there's nothing to regret."
Qatar has offered dissasemble its soccer stadiums and ship them to disadvantaged countries after the World Cup games. What does Shropsire think of that?
"It sounds like a very difficult task, I guess second to moving pyramids," he said, adding that he wasn't sure it would be economically feasible.
Reported by Mike DeNardo and Molly Daly, KYW Newsradio 1060.
