Japan's Best Shot 2022 World Cup

Japan resumes its campaign for a place at the 2010 World Cup this month against Australia, but the nation's power brokers are already setting their sights on a more distant — and potentially more rewarding — edition of the tournament.

On Monday, FIFA will open letters of intent sent by countries hoping to stage the 2018 or 2022 World Cups, beginning a bidding process that will be resolved in December 2010. Among those sent to the world governing body's headquarters in Switzerland will be one from Japan.

And it will certainly have company. No fewer than 11 bids are expected from countries as varied as Russia, the United States, Australia, Qatar and Indonesia, marking the first time interested parties have been invited to apply for two tournaments at the same time.

Although each country is putting its name forward for either event, in reality most, including Japan, are looking to 2022. With the tournament taking place in South Africa in 2010 and Brazil in 2014, logic dictates that 2018 is bound for Europe.

The interests of soccer's biggest TV market speak louder than most, and a gap of 16 years between European World Cups would be unthinkable. 2018 is England's to lose.

That would eliminate Russia, Spain/Portugal and Belgium/the Netherlands from the 2022 picture, but Japan would still have to overcome several obstacles before it could rightly claim to be the favorite.

First there is the fact that a Japanese bid is conditional to Tokyo winning the 2016 Olympics.

One of FIFA's new requirements for World Cup host nations is an 80,000-capacity stadium, and with Yokohama International Stadium currently the country's biggest with just under 70,000 seats, it would take a newly built Olympic stadium to fulfill that demand.

The Olympic decision will be made on Oct. 2 this year, but how much impact the world's highest-profile figure — U.S. President Barack Obama — throwing his weight behind Chicago's bid has remains to be seen.

Another impediment could be the fact that Japan cohosted the World Cup with South Korea as recently as 2002.

Half a World Cup it may have been, but it is still fresher in the memory than tournaments staged by other hosts eager for more, most notably the U.S.

But perhaps Japan's biggest challenge comes with the strength of its regional rivals. Australia, long accustomed to organizing top-class sporting events, including a superb Sydney Olympics in 2000, could be just what FIFA is looking for.

China has also thrown its hat into the ring, and although the decrepit state of the game there hardly deserves the prize of the World Cup, FIFA may see the opportunity to kick-start interest and spread the gospel in the world's most populous nation.

But not everything is stacked against Japan's bid.

As the logistic burden of staging the event grows with each tournament, so the number of hosts capable of meeting the task is reduced.

The global recession drives the point home further, and after the hassle of whipping South Africa into shape for 2010 — and the undoubted problems facing Brazil in 2014 — FIFA is likely to choose a country where the necessary infrastructure, organizational knowhow and assurances of safety are already in place.

Viewed in this way, Japan's bid certainly has its merits. But one look back at the selection process that resulted in cohosting in 2002 should be enough of a reminder that, until the final decision is made, anything can happen.

By ANDREW McKIRDY
www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20090201am.html

nominee host worldcup 2018/2022

Feb 2nd, 2009 was the deadline for World Cup 2018 & 2022 hosting bids.And the 11 submitted bids,

Australia
Belgium & Netherlands
England
Indonesia
Japan
South Korea
Mexico
Qatar
Russia
Spain & Portugal
USA

An expected bid from Egypt appears to have been lost in the post.

The big rule is that the same confederation can’t host both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. So countries from the same continent are essentially bidding against each other. Here’s how it breaks down by confederation:

AFC: Australia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Qatar (that’s one keen confederation)
UEFA: Belgium & Netherlands, England, Russia, Spain & Portugal
CONCACAF: USA, Mexico

My guess is that we’ll see England and Australia emerge as hosts, and beer companies everywhere will celebrate.

England’s bid is strengthened by Sepp Blatter not being too fond of joint bids (bad news for BelNeth and Sportugal), while Australia seems to be the most realistic bid from Asia (given that Japan & South Korea co-hosted the last but one World Cup, greedy).

Likewise, the USA hosted in ‘94 (not all that recent, but not all that long ago) and Mexico has already hosted two World Cups so might struggle to make a case for a third.

All eleven bids will be getting this lovely letter (warning: pdf) from Sepp Blatter, and then the process proceeds on this timetable:

Compliance with deadlines, ancillary documents, incorporated annexes… Who knew the world of football administration was so exciting? The deadline that really matters is December 2010, when the fate of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be decided.

Just for kicks, let’s try a mock vote ourselves. No ancillary documents required. Vote for any two of the following, making sure not to choose two from the same confederation, and we’ll see who gets to host our fantasy World Cup 2018 and 2022…

sources: http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-football/poll-who-do-you-want-to-host-world-cup-20182022.html

U.S. likely to host a World Cup in 2018 or 2022

Feb. 2, 2009, will own a historic place in U.S. soccer history. It's the date U.S. Soccer officials joined the race to host a World Cup tournament and officially announced their intention to pursue either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

Reliant Stadium in Houston is one of many modern facilities the U.S. can boast.
And they'll get one of them. Book it.

Want to know why? The answer is in the whir of construction cranes encircling suburban Dallas, where the Cowboys' new behemoth of a stadium is rising. And it's in the shadow of Giants Stadium, where yet another futuristic NFL stadium is going up. And it's in all the other fabulous, mammoth athletic facilities that dot the country.

The stadium outside Dallas will have the ability to accommodate perhaps 100,000 fans for special events. The $1.3 billion project in New Jersey will seat 82,500.

Beautiful, recently opened buildings in Philadelphia, Seattle, Denver, Houston and elsewhere also will brace the bid. These are grand in scale, monuments to the place where architecture, imagination and capitalism collide. No other country is so sophisticated in exploiting sales and sponsorship opportunities inside these modern arenas.

At some point, this bid process is all about the facilities. (Well, really, it's about money. Because finances are inextricably linked to facility size, by extension, these bids are about physical structures.) The United States enjoys a stadium situation unrivaled in the rest of the world, thanks mostly to the country's love of American football and need to stack the racks with money-waving fans.

More seats mean more money for FIFA. It's that simple.

Yes, there are nice (and nicely sized) venues scattered throughout the world. Some countries have a respectable volume of facilities with impressive capacities. England, probably the front-runner for the 2018 World Cup, can get into the conversation, at least. But even England can't come close to matching the glut of structural riches available to FIFA by awarding one of the future World Cups to the United States.

Consider this: A World Cup today could be scattered quite easily around a roster of fabulous stadiums that didn't even exist when the United States hosted World Cup 1994.

Let that sink in. That's how deep the selection of stadiums is here.

And, of course, venerable facilities such as the Rose Bowl, which hosted the 1994 final, remain in play. That one also holds 100,000-plus fans.

The 1994 World Cup smashed previous records for attendance; the 52-game tournament averaged 68,991 fans, a mark that still stands. The next one here will easily surpass that record.

The 2006 World Cup was a wonderfully well-received tournament, generally spilling out without a hitch and to everyone's pleasure. Germany is a modern country with several contemporary arenas. And yet, tournament organizers still needed to employ stadiums in Kaiserslautern, Nuremberg, Leipzig, Hanover and Cologne, all of which hold 46,000 spectators or fewer. There probably won't be a single bid from a stadium in the U.S. with a capacity so small. Everybody loves all those swell U.S. soccer-specific stadiums that have done so much for the game in our country, but you don't send a boy to do a man's job, so to speak.

There's also a matter of sponsorship. Here, too, FIFA has reason to purr over prospects of a second World Cup in the United States.

"From a sponsorship perspective, the two countries that advertisers currently covet most are the United States and China, and this will probably continue to be the case in 2018 and beyond," said John Alper, vice president of Premier Partnerships, a national sales and marketing firm specializing in revenue generation for facilities, events and properties. "Obviously, FIFA considers a variety of factors for this decision. However, from a sponsorship perspective, having the USA as the host nation is definitely a plus."

And by "definitely a plus," he means more cash for the FIFA kitty. Ka-ching!

The 1994 World Cup was a rousing success, at least in terms of attendance and revenue. And soccer's profile has risen substantially in the United States in the 15 years since. That means hosting a World Cup in 2018 or 2022 would be a colossus.

The World Cup in Germany averaged 52,491 spectators per contest. Given the scale of the new facilities available to the U.S.' bid, the average crowd for a World Cup in the United States could climb to 75,000. That's an extra 22,000-plus fans for 64 matches. With an average ticket price of $140 or so (the World Cup in South Africa next year will charge an average of $139, so that is a very conservative estimate), that's an additional $197 million just in ticket revenue.

And don't forget that every person who passes through a turnstile is a candidate to buy T-shirts, hats, silly foam fingers and such. The way a typical stadium deal works, the facility keeps parking and most concession revenues. But all the merchandise money goes to the event organizers, which in this case is FIFA. So the extra 22,000 or so per match adds up further considering the multiplier, whatever that is. Let's say the foam-finger factor is $10 per customer. The extra 22,000 customers can potentially generate up to an additional $220,000 per match, or an additional $14 million for the tournament.

As they say: Pretty soon, you're talking about real money.

These are very basic formulas. The actual accounting will be far more complex, of course. But you get the point. Suffice to say, if FIFA can pour more customers into stadiums during the monthlong tournament, the financial payload will expand significantly.

There could be one potential road hump. Each of these grand, new U.S. facilities comes with a lucrative naming-rights deal already in place. And that's not part of FIFA's financial template. Because world soccer's governing body doesn't already have its hand in that pie, it demands a blank slate in terms of venue sponsorship, and that includes naming rights. That's why the AOL Arena in Hamburg became, officially speaking, the World Cup Stadium in Hamburg for 2006.

Will this pose an issue? Not likely, Alper said. First, FIFA is such a global heavyweight that it can demand a blank slate. Most existing stadium contracts have clauses that cover opportunities to host extraordinary events. Plus, Alper says a FedEx or an AT&T or whatever corporate sponsor won't jeopardize important relationships and risk a firestorm of bad publicity by saying no to a chance to host World Cup games.

One more thing: Facilities in other countries, nice as some are, aren't designed with luxury boxes in mind. Not to the extent U.S. stadiums are, at least. Those opportunities for premium sales generate good money, too. Ka-ching, again.

Money talks. FIFA listens. Another World Cup is headed to the United States in your lifetime, and Feb. 2 is the day it all officially started.

Other countries that have expressed interest in bidding for either the 2018 and 2022 World Cup:

Australia: Officials there hope FIFA's desire to grow the game in Asia and the Pacific Rim can enhance the chances. Although Australia has hosted other major events (such as the 2000 Olympics in Sydney), the odds here appear long.

England: The country's effort received a significant boost when FIFA rulers shot down the notion of joint bids. So the Spain-Portugal effort and a bid from the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) went kaput before they even got started. Thus, England is the clear front-runner if FIFA is to return the tournament to Europe.

Indonesia: The world's fourth-most-populated country (237 million) has seen its economy and political scene stabilize significantly since the turbulent 1960s. Although Indonesia might be considered a strong national team in southeast Asia, its relative weakness in the world soccer structure is a detriment.

Japan: Japan has the stadiums, the infrastructure and organizational might to pull it off, but proximity to the 2002 World Cup (which the Japanese co-hosted with Korea) hurts.

Mexico: Several new stadiums are going up in Mexico. But the U.S. neighbor would become the first country to host three World Cups, a factor that probably will work against it.

Qatar: The oil-rich Arab emirate has the world's highest GDP per capita, according to some estimates. Although money isn't an issue, physical size could be. Qatar occupies only about 4,400 square miles, roughly the size of Pennsylvania.

Russia: Talk of a bid from the world's largest nation (by area) sounded much better a year ago, before falling oil prices and ongoing crisis in the Russian financial markets crunched the nation's economy.

by Steve Davis, ESPNsoccernet

Best chance for U.S. to host World Cup is 2022

2:00 a.m. February 4, 2009

FIFA will name hosts for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups of soccer when its executive committee convenes in December 2010. The United States and Mexico joined 11 other countries that formally filed their intentions by Monday's deadline, either as single or joint bids.

Here are some questions and, hopefully, answers about the process, politics and prospects in what figures to be a spirited battle for 2018 and 2022.

Will the U.S. get one?

The best answer lies somewhere between probably and definitely, although 2022 is a far better bet than 2018.

Europe has hosted 10 of the 18 World Cups and has never gone more than eight years without one. With 2010 in South Africa and 2014 in Brazil, that would be 12 years. And with eight of the 24 members of the FIFA's executive committee being European, it's easy to predict they won't let it lapse to 16 years by sending 2018 elsewhere.

That would leave the United States, which hosted in 1994, and Mexico of the CONCACAF region to battle five candidates from the Asian confederation for 2022: Australia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Qatar.

Japan and South Korea co-hosted to lukewarm reviews in 2002; Indonesia has played in one World Cup, and that was in 1938 as the Dutch East Indies; the average high temperature in Qatar in June is 108 degrees; and Australia, with a population of 21 million, may not carry enough marketing oompf and would be a second straight Commonwealth nation to host if England gets 2018.

The best news for the Americans is who didn't bid: China. FIFA might not be able to resist the marketing potential of 1.2 billion people.

There also is the South Africa factor. The vote for 2018 and 2022 comes a few months after South Africa hosts a World Cup in a country mired with infrastructure, transportation, security and other logistical issues. And with 2014 heading to a nation (Brazil) facing similar organizational obstacles, you'd think the executive committee will steer toward safe harbors.

So who gets 2018?

England is considered the front-runner, at least by the English media, but don't underestimate the anti-Brit sentiment that pervades across the continent. There are joint bids from Spain/Portugal and the Netherlands/Belgium as well a stand-alone entry from Russia, all with their own positives.

Blatter and FIFA keep flip-flopping their position on joint bids, first welcoming them and more recently saying they will be considered only if there is no suitable single-nation candidate. That could torpedo Belgium and the Netherlands, which can't go it alone, or force Spain to drop Portugal.

Another variable is the 2009 vote for the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics. If Madrid wins, that could further derail a solid Spanish World Cup bid many insiders predict would rally Continental Europe against England.

And don't count out Russia, which has ever-increasing amounts of money and international influence. Europe's largest country has never hosted a World Cup or European Championships.

Is Mexico a factor?

Short answer: No.

Mexico already has hosted two World Cups, in 1970 and as an emergency replacement for Colombia in 1986, but its last-minute entry was a bit of a surprise. Monday's deadline was merely an “expression of interest,” and Mexico could be gone when the detailed bid packets with stadium and infrastructure plans are due in mid-2010.

“If we were today to catalog the top 50 stadiums in North America,” U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said on a media teleconference Monday, “I'm going to leave it (to) everyone on the call to decide how many of those are in the United States. I'd say it's the majority, the very strong majority.”

Gulati also is a smart and well-connected man. You think he's aimlessly tossing out a U.S. World Cup bid without the backroom support of the three FIFA executive members from the CONCACAF region?

“We have bid. Mexico has bid,” Gulati said. “We'll see how that goes over the next year or two . . . We'll leave it to them to see how far they want to take that. I'm quite sure before any final vote would be taken, CONCACAF would be unified behind a single country.”

Would San Diego get any games?

As things stand now, probably not.

Gulati said 35 potential venues could be named in a U.S. bid and that would be whittled down to a dozen or so finalists only after being named World Cup host. Gulati also noted 10 NFL stadiums have been built in the past eight years alone, including several with retractable domes in warm-weather summer climates, meaning there's no need to play in aging, rundown facilities.

And imagine what Qualcomm Stadium will look like in 2022, if indeed it exists at all.

Now, if a new Chargers stadium were to be built . .

Is there an X factor?

There always is with FIFA, and even more so when just 24 people vote. All you need is 13 votes, and if the history of international sport is a guide, that sometimes is not accomplished with the utmost of integrity.

Assuming it is, though, the U.S. bid got a huge boost in November with the election of President Barack Obama – not because he's any sort of rabid soccer fan but in terms of an instantly improved image of America abroad.

“For those of us who travel around the world quite a bit,” Gulati said of Obama's election, “that (change) is noticeable, it's audible and it's visible.”

By Mark Zeigler
Union-Tribune Staff Writer

Indonesia to improve infrastructure for 2022 World Cup bid

Indonesia plans to upgrade the infrastructure throughout the country in an attempt to boost its chance of winning the 2022 World Cup, an official said on Tuesday.

"The three well prepared cities include Jakarta, Samarinda and Palembang, all of which have good infrastructure for world level sports event," said the Indonesian Sports and Youth Ministry expert staff Johar Arifin.

"We are still preparing another 11 cities for the possible 2022World Cup in Indonesia," he added.

He said that the FIFA requires 10 cities with good infrastructure for bidding countries to host the 2022 World Cup, and Indonesia would have 14 prepared.

The Minister of Youth and Sports Adhyaksa Dault was quoted by a local news paper named Indonesia GuoJi Ribao on Tuesday as saying that Indonesia will build stadiums in 10 cities, including Bogor, Bandung, Pekanbaru and Bali to bid for the premier soccer event.

Some of these new stadiums, according to Arifin, will be put into operation for the Southeast Asian Games in 2011 and the World Islamic Games in 2013.

Source: Xinhua

indonesia host piala dunia 2022, why not...?

INDONESIA HOST WORLD CUP 2022, WHY NOT...?

Impian indonesia ke pentas dunia bukan mustahil, seandainya Indonesia di pilih menjadi Host iala Dunia 2022, bagi sebagian masyarakat ragu akan keberanian PSSI mengajukan diri menjadi salah satu Host event sepakbola terakbar di dunia ini,hal ini didasarkan pada prestasi timnas yang masih belum memuaskan, organisasi yang carut marut, tingkat perekenomian indonesia yang belum menggembirakan

Namun kenapa kita harus pesimis, Indonesia perlu Hal Semacam ini, untuk memastikan terjadinya peningkatan perekonomian dan prestasi timnas sekaligus apabila di renungkan,seandainya indonesia terpilih misalnya mengandung konsekuensi untuk membangun venues-venues yang bertaraf internasional, Membangun sarana prasarana pendukung seperti telekomunikasi, transpotassi, akomadasi dsb, dan juga membangun Timnas yang solid dan membanggakan

sehingga kita bisa membanyangkan di tahun 2022 nanti, kita mempunyai fasilitas venues bertaraf internasional yang tersebar di Indonesia, Infrastruktur modern, dan Prestasi Timnas yang tentunya membanggakan, hal ini tercapai apabila waktu selama 12 tahun digunakan untuk membangun kesemuanya itu secara sinergis dengan program pembangunan nasional yang terencana dan termonitor dengan baik tidak hanya oleh pemerintah,masyarakat namun juga FIFA

sehingga hal tersebut tentunya akan bermanfaat bagi peningkatan perekonomian, baik melalui investasi langsung, terbukanya lowongan pekerjaan, dan parawisata dsb sehingga akan meningkatkan kesejahteraan masyarakat, serta juga dapat meningkatkan citra bangsa Indonesia sebagai bangsa yang besar dan bermartabat di kancah internasional untuk mewujudkan hal tersebut tentunya seluruh elemen bangsa harus mendukungnyasemoga impian tersebut dapat menjadi kenyataan, amiin.

Bravo Indonesia for FIFA World Cup 2022. * go green world cup 2022*

by : ilwn:02