Bid teams make final push for 2022 vote

The five nations competing to host the 2022 World Cup have made their final presentations ahead of Thursday’s vote.

Representatives of bids from the United States, Qatar, Australia, South Korea and Japan made their final pitch to members of the FIFA executive committee in Zurich on Wednesday, with some famous faces called upon to lend their support.

The US, considered one of the front-runners to win the hosting rights, employed the services of President Barrack Obama in a video message.

“Here in America passion for football burns stronger than ever. If we are successful we will make the world proud. The game is in us. I hope to have the chance to welcome all of you in 2022,” Obama said.

Former White House incumbent Bill Clinton spoke in person during the formal presentation process, stressing the advantage of the USA’s pre-existing infrastructure, particularly its world-class stadia.

“You won’t have to worry about construction deadlines or ticket sales,” Clinton said.

Australia is regarded as well-equipped to host the tournament, but may be a financial risk to commercial partners due to time zones which are unfavourable to a global television audience.

The Australian bid team called upon the likes of supermodel Elle MacPherson, Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman and Governor-General Quentin Bryce to further their case.

“If Australia wins the right to host the 2022 World Cup it will be a nation-changing event,” Governor-General Bryce said

“It has the potential to change our country in ways that will benefit many generations of Australians and it offers FIFA the chance to turbo-charge the growth of football in the Asia and Pacific regions.”

Qatar, which has been dogged by allegations of vote-sharing and concerns about the impracticality of hosting the tournament in a harsh climate, emphasised the benefits of their central global location.

“We are at the heart of the Middle East. We are a bridge between Europe, Africa and Asia,” Qatari bid chief executive Hassan al-Thawadi said.

The bids of South Korea and Japan, both seen as outsiders to win the vote after the countries co-hosted the tournament in 2002, gave shorter presentations than the US and Australia.

Japan’s bid team pledged to project holographs of matches onto pitches around the world, but only if 3D technology was sufficiently advanced, while South Korea stressed the unifying effect that hosting the tournament could have on the troubled peninsula.