Late Thursday afternoon in Zurich, Switzerland, Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, stepped to the podium and announced that Qatar had won the right to host the 2022 World Cup. This meant that the bids from Australia, Japan, Korea, and more importantly, the United States, had failed.
It came down to the final round of voting, but that's where Qatar edged the U.S., 14-8. And really, it wasn't even that close: Qatar earned 11 votes in the first round (one shy of a win) compared to United States' three.
It was one of the strangest hosting proposals ever. Air conditioned stadiums. A country with a population roughly the size of Phoenix, Arizona. An emirate with only one major city. Qatar overcame those obstacles as well as strong opposition of the United States and Russia to win FIFA's approval to host the 2022 World Cup.
The Russia and Qatar announcements have already led to speculation of FIFA's motives, with England and the United States viewed as the most ready of the 2018 and 2022 bidders. However, as was the case with South Africa's hosting the 2010 tournament, FIFA has again shown a strong commitment to taking soccer to new locations across the globe.
Qatar, like Russia, faces significant infrastructure issues, though the biggest concern will be environmental. The Qatari delegation spent most of their time leading into today's vote convincing committee members that summer heat on the Arabian Peninsula (where temperatures could reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit), will not be an issue. Air condition stadiums designed to lower the temperature of the play surface were proposed.
Which is why it was so surprising when Blatter read "Qatar." Don Garber, commissioner of MLS, the United States' soccer league that continues to gain international respect every year, spoke for many when he said, "I'm shocked."
The message here is that petrodollars talk. For an outfit that likes to thump its chest and claim that it is not corrupt (Trust us, says FIFA president Sepp Blatter), having two oil-wealthy winners is the clearest message possible that FIFA needs a complete overhaul in its leadership and organization. Russia had a pretty good case for being chosen, but Qatar (which was funded heavily by its government and bought the support of celebrity endorsers) didnt make a lot of sense in the first place.
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