President Obama Lends "Powerful" Weight to World Cup Bid

[ClarkUSA]

“As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together,” the president wrote in a letter that was hand-delivered recently to Joseph S. Blatter, the president of the world soccer body, known as FIFA. Obama was referring to the years from ages 6 to 10 that he spent in Indonesia with his mother...
“Soccer is truly the world’s sport, and the World Cup promotes camaraderie and friendly competition across the globe,” Obama added in the letter, a part of which was released to The New York Times by the United States Soccer Federation with permission from the White House.

“That is why this bid is about much more than a game,” he added. “It is about the United States of America inviting the world to gather all across our great country in celebration of our common hopes and dreams.”

The president is hoping to influence FIFA when the decision for 2018 and 2022 is made in December 2010, five months after the next World Cup in South Africa... “The support of the president, who is extraordinarily popular around the world, is a huge plus,” Sunil Gulati, the president of the United States federation, said on Monday.

President Obama is a powerful force, as was shown recently in Chicago, when his video impressed inspectors from the International Olympic Committee who were evaluating that city against Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro... President Obama very well could identify with an underdog, given the generally shaky performances by the United States in the past five World Cups. The United States does not normally have the stature in soccer that it does in the Olympic movement... The Chicago Olympic committee is hoping that President Obama will materialize for the vote in Copenhagen in October the same way Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Vladimir Putin helped put London and Sochi, Russia, over the top in recent Olympic votes.

“Any statements he makes — and he is already working in his statements for Chicago — are listened to very, very carefully,” the I.O.C. member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain recently said to The Chicago Tribune.

FIFA knows the United States ran a terrific party in 1994, setting an overall attendance record that has endured. Now the highly popular American president has proposed throwing another party. A claret-and-blue scarf would look great on him.

If this goes down, I'm getting tickets! Ditto for the Olympics. :woohoo:

[MrCoffee]

1. I think the 94 Cup would be the biggest factor...

FIFA knows the US can host the Cup. It would be so awesome to get it again!

[blm]

4. 94 World Cup BOMBED in the US thanks to OJ and our asshat newsmedia. Thousands of people spent

many years and hundreds of millions in dollars, blood, sweat and tears to bring the 94 WC to the US, and fete it with opening ceremonies the world waited years to see.....OJ's slow speed car chase pushed the opening ceremonies off the newsfeed and the rest of the world thought America was fucking crazy.

OJ's preliminary trial took over all the networks, usurping the sports news and the entertainment news, along with the news-news.

Deliberately.

Think about how GOP and RW media took over this country by 95 and how many banking regulations were overturned while Americans focused on OJ and his trial.

[Drunken Irishman]

6. OJ > Soccer. ;)

[Jackeens]

7. Ireland beat Italy, so the 94 World Cup was a HUGE success :-)

[SKKY]

8. The 94 World Cup Bombed?

Hmm. Let's see.

The average attendance of almost 69,000 is a record that still stands today.

It created the context to launch MLS, while still in its infancy, is a respectable league.

It put US Soccer, from a national team perspective, on the map.

I don't see how you reach that conclusion.

[blm]

9. It didn't do as much as what was expected from the years of effort and didn't capture the attention

of as many Americans as expected. MLS's launch was counting on a more inspired American fanbase than what it got out of WC. BTW, the attendance for 94 WC was never dependent on newsmedia - the PERCEPTION of whether or not Americans would finally understand, embrace and support the sport of soccer WAS dependent on newsmedia.

[Nailzberg]

14. Sweden came in third, so I consider that WC pretty good.

Could have been better.

[ClarkUSA]

5. I hope we can clinch it.

Me and my buds are ready to help break attendance records again. Wonder which cities will host?

[nemo137]

10. Chicago and Columbus for sure

LA, SLC, Philly, Kansas City, NYC area. MLS folks would want to showcase their stadia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer-specific_stadium#Major_League_Soccer_.28MLS.29

[ClarkUSA]

11. Wouldn't football stadiums would hold more people?

They'd have to test markets first to see what the response would be, I guess... but my gut tells me there'd be huge crowds, both foreign and domestic.

[SoxFan]

12. These venues would be too small for some of the matches

If you brought Ireland or Italy to Boston, they would fill Gillette, and the Mexican team would draw a crowd better suited for the Rose Bowl than the Home Depot Center.

[DrToast]

2. The 2016 Olympics would be pretty sweet...

Right as he's wrapping up his second term.

[ClarkUSA]

3. Yup... that's why I think it's gonna happen. The IOC are suckers for popular symbolism...

and monster ratings. :)

[SoxFan]

13. Who else is bidding?

I know South Africa has shown interest in the past.