Presentations by former President Bill Clinton and actor Morgan Freeman failed to sway the FIFA Executive Committee. The US will not be the host of either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup soccer championship.
When the vote tally was unsealed Thursday (12/2) in Zurich, Switzerland, Russia was the country selected to host the World Cup in 2018 and Qatar for 2022.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) had stepped up in August to rally broadcasters across the country in support of the US bid to host either the 2018 or ’22 World Cup. Broadcasters had asked viewers and listeners to sign a petition that the USA Bid Committee presented to FIFA in support of the US bid to be a host country.
The USA last hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1994, when soccer was still gaining acceptance in this country. The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa drew huge ratings on TV and radio in the US.
RBR-TVBR observation: Well, there’s always 2026. Soccer has become much, much more popular in the US than it was when the World Cup was here in 1994. FIFA makes a lot of money from the US broadcast rights, regardless of where the matches take place, so it is logical that the World Cup will come back to the USA at some point. Reconnoiter and make the pitch again in a few years.
