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Russia and Qatar to Host 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals
Posted on30. Sep, 2011 by admin.
Russia and Qatar have been announced to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals, respectively. It is the first time for both countries to host the popular tournament.
Russia was able to beat their competition from England, as well as joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium. Qatar, on the other hand, was able to beat Australia, South Korea, Japan and the USA.
Sepp Blatter, FIFA president announced the result in Zurich, Switzerland after the panel of 22 members voted. Blatter said, “We go to new lands. Never has the World Cup been in Russia and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Arabic world have been waiting for a long time so I’m a happy president when we talk about the development of football.”
After the announcement, Igor Shuvalov, Russia deputy prime minister, gave celebratory remarks, “You have entrusted us with the FIFA World Cup for 2018 and I can promise, we all can promise, you will never regret it. Let us make history together.”
Although he did not attend Thursday’s vote, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flied to Zurich to personally thank FIFA for awarding his country with the right to host the 2018 tournament. Before he left for Zurich, he told reporters, “This decision shows that Russia is trusted”.
Qatar had previously asked FIFA to take a gamble and insisted that the extreme heat of the desert nation would definitely not be an issue. They stressed that they had the money, the resources and the technology to overcome any and all logistical challenges.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar’s Emir, said, “Thank you for believing in change. Thank you for backing us and expanding the game. You will be proud of us and you will be proud of the Middle East.”