Hearing the news of Qatar winning the bid for the 2022 World Cup over countries like Australia and the United States was astonishing. I'm sure several of you were asking, "where the heck is Qatar"...or something along those lines. Well, to get an idea of how big the country of Qatar really is, click here: http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/US/QA. This link shows the size of Qatar in red compared to north-west Ohio and south-east Michigan.
Just viewing this map makes me wonder how a country of that size can host a world event like the World Cup. Although good things can come from Qatar hosting the event, the fact that they got FIFA's vote is surprising. How can a country smaller than the state of Ohio accomadate the mass number of players, media members, and even fans traveling to the World Cup? Where are the various stadiums going to be? These few questions alone aid me in saying Qatar should not host the event. If surrounding countries will be used to accomodate stadiums, hotels, and such, Qatar should simply not have won the bidding.
As recent as this past World Cup, South Africa was looked down upon for building and renovating stadiums for the World Cup while the stadiums would never be used afterwards. 
With this issue making the news and various discussions, just how did Qatar really pull this off versus countries that can run and host the World Cup, comfortably, if you will. The picture on the right shows one of Qatar's solor-powered stadiums that will be used in 2022.
With this issue making the news and various discussions, just how did Qatar really pull this off versus countries that can run and host the World Cup, comfortably, if you will. The picture on the right shows one of Qatar's solor-powered stadiums that will be used in 2022.I am very interested to hear what others have to say about this topic as this blog is open for discussion.
This is a very good post. I really didn't know anything about Qatar or even that it existed. I think that this might really benefit them in the long run because it will give Middle East a chance to gain some attention when it comes to soccer. Also, it will draw more players for the game in that area.I found that link to be very interesting as well because it put its size in perspective for me. I am also interested to see if having it there will be a success.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I'm beating a dead horse between my group's presentation and my entries, but I think the success of South Africa lead them to give another developing country a chance. Qatar may be hosting the event, but all of the Middle East will travel to support, not to mention all the other countries that will go to support like normal. Qatar is an extremely rich nation and will be using their technology to better the area and the playing field for the athletes. I would have loved to go to World Cup games, however just like spreading the NFL to England, FIFA is trying to establish soccer in a nation where it is popular, but not on the world map. I like that Russia beat England and Qatar beat America and as long as these countries keep making money and things go well, small countries will continue to host events like the World Cup and the sport of soccer will flourish all around the world even more than it already does.
ReplyDeleteI was so upset when i heard that Qatar beat US in the running for the Soccer World Cup. I would have loved to and would have gone to some of the World Cup games. While I agree that one of the main reason that Qatar was picked over the US was the fact soccer is much more popular there than it is here. But I think that if the US got to host the World Cup that the MLS would have gotten a must needed boost. It's too bad but maybe we'll host one of the future World Cups to follow.
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