US fans vent frustration over failed World Cup bid

Only minutes after Qatar was announced as FIFA’s choice to host the 2022 World Cup, frustrated United States football supporters warned that the rejected US bid could hurt the sport in America.

“Gutted”, “USA Soccer is set back another 20 years” and “Qatar? Wow. Soccer actually just got less relevant in the US” were among the shocked reactions posted on US Soccer’s Twitter site.

In the wake of a recent FIFA bribery allegations, fans were less than thrilled about losing the chance to host for the second time, the first since 1994.

“Qatar? Time to stop playing along. They can come to us when they want us to care about soccer again. They can bribe us next time,” tweeted one angry fan.

Alexi Lalas, a former US star who handled commentary on ESPN’s US telecast of the FIFA announcement, brought up the idea that Qatar might need a backup host site only moments after the announcement.

“If Qatar can’t do it, it’s coming right to the United States,” he said.

The United States acted as a fill-in host for the 2003 Women’s World Cup after planned host China was struck by a SARS epidemic.

Former US President Bill Clinton and actor Morgan Freeman were among those who made the pitch for the Americans in Zurich.

“Star power only gets you so much,” Lalas said. “It is a political craziness.”

US television commentators played up the heat projections and relatively small land area for Qatar but quickly moved on to a more major US sport story, the impending return of basketball star LeBron James to Cleveland with his new Miami teammates.

US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati expressed his sadness in a message posted on GOUSABID.com, the US bid’s official website.

“Despite our best efforts, the United States was not chosen for this honor,” he said. “There’s no way around it – I am disappointed. To come up short is very difficult to take.”

Gulati tried to be upbeat, thanking those who worked to pull together the World Cup bid.

“Even though our bid did not win, the future of soccer is bright in the United States,” Gulati told supporters. “You’ve proven to the world that The Game Is In You, and that The Game Is In US.”

US supporters were less than convinced in their postings, with Major League Soccer’s website featuring several posts along the lines of “FIFA=corruption” and “If anyone needed confirmation that the whole process is rigged, there ya go”.

Those on Twitter were not buying the future potential for football in America.

“Enough with how much USA Soccer matters. When you lose the World Cup bid to friggin’ Qatar, trust me, it means nothing,” wrote one US fan.

“That is why soccer will never grow into a huge sport in the USA. Not even FIFA cares about usa soccer,” said another.

There were some posters who were not sad about the outcome, however.

“I’m glad the us lost,” one said. “That’s what you get for calling it soccer.”